


She's Mine

by kpowd20



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 82,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24375109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpowd20/pseuds/kpowd20
Summary: Hope shows up to save Josie more than a couple of times. Where will this new bond go? Will either of them admit their feelings for each other? Will Hope open up to Josie?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	1. Getting to Know Each Other

Chapter One:  
Josie POV-  
“Josie, wake up” Lizzie begins to shake my shoulders. I look over at the clock and see it’s only 9 am. “Lizzie, it is too early what do you want?” I try to rub some sleep out of my eyes a little more so I can try to comprehend why Lizzie is shaking me awake on a Saturday morning. “There is going to be a party at the Old Mill tonight, we should go,” she continues to shake my shoulders lightly. “Are you going to go?” Lizzie looks at me with her best pleading look. “If I say yes, can I go back to sleep?” Lizzie begins to shake her head up and down quickly. “Yes, if you agree to come, I will leave you be for now.” I hesitate for a second before answering with a sigh “See you in a couple hours,” I say to Lizzie as I roll over to my side. Lizzie smirks and leaves the room.  
Hope POV-  
My alarm clock goes off at 9:30 giving me thirty minutes to get to training with Alaric. I quickly change into sweats and head out to the deck by the pond outside the back entrance to the school. “You’re right on time for once,” Alaric laughs. “Sorry, was a little slow getting out of bed this morning,” He looks at my face and can see the dark rings under my eyes. “Are you having trouble sleeping again?” Alaric looks at me with concern in his eyes. “Yeah, never ending.” We continue sparring as I block every punch and kick Alaric throws at me before he leaves his side exposed and I have the chance to flip him over me. Alaric hits the wood deck with enough force to knock the breath out of him. “Okay, I think we are good for training today,” Alaric laughs as Hope looks down at him. “Might need to recruit some sturdier trainers for me to train with,” Hope gives Alaric her hand and pulls him back up. “We’ll see,” Alaric turns to leave but Hope asks,” Can I run tonight? I can stay in the back woods.” “Yes, just be careful,” Alaric leaves and I head to my room to shower and change before starting my homework for the weekend.  
Lizzie POV-  
“Alright Josie, white dress,” I show Josie holding the dress up in front of me, “or blue dress.” Josie thinks over the choices as I continue to show her both dresses. “White dress, MG will like it.” Red floods my face as I think about seeing MG tonight. I run into the bathroom to hide how flushed I was and to change when I heard a knock on the door.  
Josie POV-  
“I got it, Lizzie,” I get up from my bed and walk over to the door still in my sleep shorts and t-shirt. “Hey Jo-Jo, are you coming to the party tonight?” Penelope looks me up and down smirking. “Not that it is your business but yes,” I could see Penelope light up at hearing that. “Guess I will see you later then, wear something cute,” Penelope winks at me before leaving down the hall towards the cafeteria. Lizzie comes back into the room and asks,” Who was that?” I look up at her and try to hide how flustered I am. “It was Penelope.” The smile on Lizzie’s face quickly dropped at hearing this. “You guys broke up weeks ago and she still keeps dragging you along. She broke up with you. She hurt you! She better hope she doesn’t run into me tonight.” Lizzie’s hands were in tight fists by her sides. “I am okay, Lizzie,” I say with my best fake smile. “Go finish getting ready, I am going to run to the library to finish up some homework before the party tonight.” Without giving Lizzie a chance to object, I quickly change into black ripped jeans, a grey sweater and dark red leather jacket and head down to the library I hear Lizzie say, “Party starts at 8!”  
It was about 7 pm when I stopped doing homework, grabbed some food from the kitchen and headed to my room to get dressed. I had been so busy helping Lizzie pick out her dress and get ready that I had completely forgotten to find something for myself. I looked at myself in the mirror at my outfit and decided it was enough for the party. I finished eating and touched up my makeup and hair before heading out to the Old Mill.  
I could hear the music pounding through the woods as I got closer. “Hey Jo-Jo,” I turned around to see Penelope in a black dress with a white jacket. “Miss me?” she moves closer, close enough to touch. My heart rate picked up. “I, I am going to go get a drink,” I stutter out as I quickly move around her and walk up the couple steps into the Old Mill and head straight to the alcohol. After getting my beer, I see Lizzie and MG. “Hey Jo!,” Lizzie looks really happy as she dances with MG. “How’s everything?” MG takes my hands to get me to dance with him. “Everything is good,” I dance with them for a little bit refilling my red solo cup a couple times throughout the night.  
“You can’t just ignore me,” again Penelope is back. I turn to look at her but stumble ever so slightly. “Actually, I can since YOU broke up with ME,” I was mad at this point. “You cannot just use me when it conveniences you. You act like I am yours and that I will just always be here for you.” I stumble again a little more than before. “Wow, Josie are you drunk,” Penelope moves closer. “Don’t-,” Penelope leans in and kisses me. I push her off and head off into the woods walking until the music is barely audible.  
Hope POV-  
I head out the back door of the school and make my way into the woods. I take off my clothes and fold them leaving them under a bush where I always do. I begin to change into my wolf hearing the slight crack of my bones as I transform. It doesn’t hurt as much as it used to but still enough for me to let out a whimper.  
This is my stress reliever. I am free when I am running through these woods as my wolf. I can’t ever keep track of time when I am out here but I know I have been running for a while when my wolf stops. That scent. I know that scent. Vanilla.  
My wolf turns to go towards it without allowing me much control over where I was going. We slow down as I turn to see Josie Saltzman sit down against a tree. She has a drink in her hand and tears rolling down her cheeks.  
Josie POV-  
I finally feel like I walked far enough away when I decide to sit down against a tree. I slowly slide down it slightly spilling my drink. I am just so tired of Penelope acting like she didn’t hurt me. That she didn’t leave me.  
I am deep into my thoughts when I hear some bushes rustle but there was not a breeze to move any of the other shrubs. I don’t move as I try to see what is there. “Hey! Come out whoever you are! I am a witch be scared,” I tried my best not to slur my words as I spoke.  
Hope POV-  
“Is she drunk?” I thought to myself. I sat there watching her against the tree for a couple of minutes before crouching low and walking forward. “Woah, who are you?” Josie tried to stand but fell back down. She spilled the rest of her drink as she tried to stand again. I whimpered to try and tell her I wouldn’t hurt her. Josie cocked her head trying to process why this wolf wasn’t attacking her.  
I moved forward more, slowly, until I was close enough for Josie to be able to reach her hand out to touch me. I put my head between my paws and laid as still as possible “Who are you?” Josie’s mind couldn’t process that it was me since it wasn’t a full moon, I am the only option. Josie slowly reached her hand out to touch my light white colored fur.  
Josie POV-  
“You’re so soft,” I whisper at her carefully scratching behind her ear and rubbing my hand along her back. My head was still spinning as the wolf scooted closer wrapping itself around me. I didn’t even realize I was cold until her heat warmed me. It didn’t take long for me to slowly start to nod my head as I fell asleep curled into this wolf.  
Hope POV-  
I tried to stay as still as possible to let Josie sleep off the alcohol. It was probably close to about 3 am when I heard someone yell her name. Lizzie. Her twin sister. She slowly started to walk closer seeing Josie fast asleep against me. I looked up at Lizzie before letting out a slight whimper to show her I wouldn’t harm her. Lizzie walked over and sat down laying a hand lightly on her sister’s leg. She looked over at me and asked, “Can you understand me?” I nod my head and my tail thumps once. “Is she okay?” Lizzie looks at me with concern as MG starts to walk over towards us, clearly helping Lizzie look for Josie. I nod again as Josie stirs a little.  
“Hope?” MG looks at me as recognition crosses his face. He knew it wasn’t a full moon. He knew I was the only wolf who could transform at will. Lizzie’s eyes finally appear to understand the situation as she looks over at me. “Can we take her back to the dorms?” I nod my head as MG picks up Josie and follows Lizzie out of the woods back to the dorms. Lizzie looks back as they are leaving and mouths “thank you” before they leave the boundary of the woods, and Hope is left alone.  
I follow from a distance just to make sure they make it back before returning to my hidden clothes, change, and head inside myself. I make it back to my room and for the first night in a long time, fall asleep immediately.

Chapter 2:  
Josie POV:  
I jolt awake about 8 am not realizing I was searching for something in my bed. It was empty next to me. I look over to see Lizzie is still asleep. I can’t remember anything that happened last night. As I crawl out of bed, the headache hits. Realization crosses my face as I remember the party from last night and the alcohol. I go to the bathroom, change into normal clothes and a hoodie, and head down to the cafeteria. I head into the food line and grab a seat at the table by the window.  
“Hey Jo, how’s your head?” MG sits down at the table next to me. “Pounding,” I close my eyes as the wave of pain surpasses for now. “Do you remember what happened last night?” MG looks concerned as he locks eyes with me. “No, anything important happen?” MG chuckles as he says “Yeah, Lizzie and I found you curled up into a white wolf asleep and drunk last night in the middle of the woods. Then we carried you back to the dorms when Hope said we could.” “Wait, Hope, why was Hope there-“ It dawned on me that there was no full moon last night because Raf was at the party just like the other wolves and the only wolf who can transform at will is Hope.  
I look up to see Lizzie strolling into the cafeteria. She sits down with us after grabbing some food. “Hey Jo, how’s your head?” “Why was Hope with me last night?” Lizzie looks over to MG and he adds, “Yeah, I caught her up on the night.” Lizzie looks back over to me before explaining how she found me curled up against Hope and how Hope let them take me back to the dorms. “I don’t understand how I got out there,” I trail off. I need to go find Hope. “I’ll see you guys later,” I dump my tray and walk off towards Hope’s room.  
Hope POV:  
I wake up to the sound of knocking at my door. I slowly roll out of bed confused since it is Sunday why anyone would be knocking at my door. I open it to see Josie. “Hey, can I come in?” she’s wringing her hands in front of her awaiting my response. “Yeah sure,” I step back to let her in and sit back down on my bed. Josie sits awkwardly on the corner of it and locks eyes with me.  
“So, Lizzie and MG told me about last night,” she trailed off and looked to her hands as they slowly messed with my comforter. She looked back up at me after a couple of seconds, “Can you tell me what happened because I don’t remember that much.” Josie again looked to her hands. “Well, I was running in the woods and,” I hesitated, “ heard you.” I didn’t want to say I could smell her and that my wolf was drawn to her that sounds weird. “You were clearly drunk so I slowly crawled up to you. You were cold so I laid next to you. You fell asleep curled up into me then your sister came looking for you with MG. They asked if they could take you back to the dorms and I nodded yes then they left with you.”  
Josie looked shocked. She bit her lip hesitating before she said quietly, “Why did you take care of me?” I didn’t quite have an answer for her. My wolf took me over to her, it protected her, it made sure she was safe. “I don’t know, you just looked like you could use some help.” She slowly nodded her head still not making eye contact. She stood up and started to walk over to my door. “Thank you, Hope.” Josie finally looked up at me. “Always,” I said as she smiled and left my room.  
Josie POV:  
The next couple of days were normal, no monster attacks. I did my homework and went to class, but I could not stop thinking about Hope. Why did she stay with me? She could have left me in the woods or not even come over to me. Then she answered my questions after. I’ve always had a crush on her but I didn’t think she reciprocated the feelings.  
I was walking to my afternoon class when I ran into Penelope. “Hey Jo-Jo, want an escort to class?” she smiled smugly. “Not from you,” I kept walking to class ignoring her. “Oh come on, you know you love my company,” she kept walking after me before lightly pushing me against the wall. “You used to love how close we were,” she placed her right hand on my waist keeping me against the wall.  
Hope POV:  
I was walking to class when I saw Penelope walk over to talk to Josie. She didn’t seem very interested in talking to Penelope though. I watched as Penelope pushed Josie against the wall preventing her from leaving. My pace increased as I went to close the distance. Josie finally was able to shove Penelope off as I moved between the two of them. A growl escaped my throat as I stood in front of Josie protecting her from Penelope. “Hope, cool it, I was just leaving,” Penelope turned around and left to go to her own class.  
“Hope,” Josie called my name as I turned around to look at her. “Your eyes, they are golden.” I quickly tried to blink a couple times to clear it but still felt the anger boiling inside of me. “Hope,” Josie placed her hand on my arm. “I’m okay, she didn’t hurt me.” I looked back at Josie and felt my anger subsiding. “There are those blue eyes I love,” Josie rubbed her hand slightly on my arm calming me. “Let’s go to class,” Josie turned to leave looking back at me and I followed. 

Chapter 3-  
Hope POV:  
“Hope Mikaelson to my office, now,” Alaric said over the intercom. I quickly grabbed my things from class and headed towards Alaric’s office. I knock on the door to hear a “Come in” and say “Hey, what’s up?” It’s been about an hour since the whole Penelope accident so I have calmed down some but I am still a little bit on edge. “New monster, a Chimera, fire breathing hybrid lion over by the garden,” I nod as Alaric grabs his cross bow. “Ready to kick some monster butt?” Alaric looks over “You have no idea,” I say as we head out to the garden.  
Josie POV-  
Hope left to go see my dad during our class about two hours ago but she wasn’t back yet for our last class of the day. When class was over, I headed to my dad’s office to find no one inside. I headed to the cafeteria to see if either of them was there for dinner. No luck. “Hey Jo, coming to eat?” Lizzie asked as I stood in the doorway of the cafeteria. “No, I am just looking for dad and Hope.” I kept scanning faces in the cafeteria. “Why are you looking for them?” “Hope left during class to see dad and I can’t find them,” I think Lizzie could see I looked worried. “Here, Ill help you look for them.” We check out back by the Old Mill and find nothing. We begin to walk around to the front of the school by the garden when we hear a loud roar and see a fire breathing lion.  
“No way, is that a chimera? We read about them in our mythology books when we were younger, Jo!” Lizzie looks excited at seeing one. “But why is it here, Liz?” They both continue to walk forward when they see an arrow shoot forward into the chimera. It doesn’t do a thing. Lizzie and I run the rest of the way over to see Hope with a torn up bloody shirt and dad walking with a limp.  
“Nothing is working, Dr. Saltzman,” Hope looks over and sees us and fear shoots across her face. “Get out of here, now!” Hope yells at us. “Dad, I know how to kill it,” Lizzie yells. “We need a lead arrow to shoot into the throat, when it breathes fire the lead will melt killing it!” Lizzie looks proud of herself for remembering that information from reading it all those years ago. “What I was nerd for this kind of stuff,” Josie places her hand on the schools wall to siphon some magic from it and grabs Lizzie’s hand.  
Hope POV-  
I look back over to see Josie and Lizzie holding hands and reciting something under their breath. They manage to create a lead arrow and give it to Alaric to shoot with his crossbow. The chimera looks over at the twins and appears to be drawn to the magic they are using. It lunges towards the twins and before I know it, I transform into my wolf midair and collide with it and its’ fire. I yelp in pain loudly at the burns I just received. Alaric finally has the cross bow ready and shoots the chimera in the throat. It screams in pain shooting fire from its mouth melting the lead and killing itself.  
“Hope!” Josie runs over to me. I am still wolfed out. I continue to whimper. “We need to get her to the infirmary now,” Alaric says. He calls MG to come out and help him carry me.  
Josie POV-  
The nurses put Hope under to lessen her pain while she heals. They said she should be fine within a couple of days but the burns were severe. She finally transformed back into a human after about 24 hours but remained unconscious. They stopped the medicine that was keeping her under so the doctors were just waiting for her to wake up herself. I couldn’t leave her side not when she has protected me not once, not twice, but now three times.  
“Hey Jo, I brought you some lunch,” Lizzie’s eyes looked at me with concern. It has been about 36 hours since Hope was attacked and I haven’t left her side once. “How is she doing?” referencing Hope. “She transformed back into a human but she is still healing.” My eyes are a little teary. Lizzie sits down next to me giving me a hug. “She’s going to be okay,” Lizzie finally lets go and looks at me. “But, do you want to tell me what is going on with you two?” Lizzie chuckles and looks over at Josie’s hand that was holding onto Hope. “Nothing is going on,” Josie looks to the ground. “Uh huh, sure Jo,” Lizzie gives me one more hug before leaving saying that she’ll bring dinner by later.  
I ate dinner and was talking to Hope who was still unconscious before falling asleep. “Please wake up, Hope.” I look at the slow rise and fall of her chest as she slept. “Why do you keep saving me, running to my rescue,” I trail off talking to myself. “I know you can’t hear me but I’ve had the biggest crush on you since we were little, Hope, please you’ve got to wake up.” My eyes were teary again. “I miss you,” I laid my head down for the second night on Hope’s bed and held onto her hand as I fell asleep.

Chapter 4:  
Hope POV-  
I slowly open my eyes to see Josie’s head laying down on my bed and her hand is in my hand. “Jo,” my voice is hoarse and raspy. “Hope, oh my gosh, you’re awake, thank god,” Josie lifted her head up to look at me and had tears in her eyes. I look down at her, “How long have I been here? How long have you stayed with me?” Josie looks exhausted I feel bad, she probably hasn’t gotten that much sleep lately seeing those bags under her eyes.  
“You got burned really bad by the chimera and,” she choked up a little. “You’ve been asleep for about two days. They put you under for the first 24 hours to help your pain then they stopped and it took another 24 hours for your body to wake up.” I looked down forgetting that Josie’s hand was holding mine. She saw me look down and tried to pull away but I wouldn’t let her. She looked up at me and relaxed her hand again. “Thank you for staying with me, Jo,” the nickname rolled off my tongue easier than I expected it to and she didn’t seem to care that I called her Jo. We sat there for a few more seconds in silence. I gave her hand a quick squeeze.  
“You should go to your room to get some sleep,” I looked into her brown eyes and could see fear shoot across them. “But I want to stay here with you,” she trailed off. She looked down at our hands “It can’t be that comfortable to sit in the chair and sleep with your head on my bed,” I chuckled to hopefully lighten the mood. “But,” Josie locked eyes with me again. She looked so tired and I wanted her to be able to sleep. “Well, I can’t let you sleep in the chair so either go upstairs to your room or I’ll scoot over and you can sleep up here.” I patted at the space next to me on the bed. Josie instantly stood up and moved to lay down next to me. I was laying on my back and she carefully laid her head into my shoulder. “I’m not hurting you right?” She looked so nervous. “No Jo, everything is okay,” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she slowly curled into me more. Before long, I heard her heart rate slow down. She was gorgeous. She looked so peaceful curled up next to me. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep as well.  
Josie POV-  
I woke up to see Hope’s eyes looking down at me. “Hey Jo, how did you sleep?” I can see the concern in her eyes even though she is the one in the hospital. “I slept better than I have in the past couple of weeks.” I feel so calm around Hope. The nightmares stay away when I am with her. “How long have you been up?” I look up at Hope, her arm still wrapped around my shoulders and my arm draped across her stomach. “Long enough, to watch you sleep,” she smirks at me. “Stalker,” I lightly shove her and she makes a pained expression. “Oh god, I am so sorry Hope!” She starts to laugh, “I’m kidding, I am pretty much good as new.” I make a pouty face at her. “Not cool.”  
The doctor comes in to clear Hope so she can leave the infirmary. “Want to go get food?” I ask Hope as the nurse comes in to remove the IV. “Sure, I am starving.” Hope slides off the bed, and we walk towards the cafeteria. We run into Lizzie who was bringing me breakfast in the infirmary. “Hope! You’re up and moving!” Lizzie engulfs Hope in a hug. I had never seen them hug let alone talk for extended periods of time. “Hey Lizzie,” Hope laughed at how forward Lizzie was. “We were just headed to get some food, want to come?” She doesn’t even hesitate before saying, “I’m right behind you.” I take the tray from Lizzie, and we all three walk to the cafeteria.  
Hope POV-  
I head back to my room to shower after eating with Josie and Lizzie. Alaric said I don’t have to return to classes or do training for the rest of the week, so I put on a movie to pass the time. I grab my phone and decide to text Josie. “Hey Jo, want to swing by later and watch a movie? Come over at 7?” I stare at the text for a couple of seconds before finally hitting send. Why do I feel all flustered just texting her? She spent the past two days with me worried sick. She definitely has feelings, right? Josie still hasn’t texted me back. I am overthinking this. Its only been a couple of minutes. I grab my phone again, “Alaric, can I go run?” he responds almost immediately. “Back woods, be careful.” I walk out the back doors of the school, take off my clothes and fold them leaving them under a bush, and just run.  
Josie POV-  
Class is so boring and I can’t stop thinking about Hope, again. I pull my phone out to check for messages during lunch and find a text message from Hope. “Hey Jo, want to swing by later and watch a movie?” My heart flutters as I look to see what time she sent the text message. 11:00. Dang, it’s 12:30. I text back, “Sure! I’ll bring snacks. See you later!”  
I finish up the rest of my afternoon classes and grab dinner before heading back to my room. I walk in and see Lizzie sitting on her bed. “Hey Jo, how were classes?” I can’t hold it in any longer, and Lizzie can tell something is running through my mind. “Hope asked me to come over and watch a movie and I don’t know what to wear and I said I’d bring snacks and,” I am rambling and Lizzie can tell. “Jo, look at me,” Lizzie grabs my hands and makes me look her in the eyes.  
Lizzie POV-  
I grab Jo’s hands. “Hope clearly likes you, she has protected you from satan and from the chimera. She even took care of you when you were drunk, and she was a wolf!” Josie chuckles. “And you are going to show up looking cute as hell and blow that girl away. You guys are cute together. You really care about each other.” Josie got teary hearing my motivational speech. “Now let’s pick you out an outfit and you can go grab snacks from the kitchen.”  
Josie POV-  
I got changed and grabbed some popcorn, candy, and soda from the kitchen before showing up at Hope’s door at 6:58. I stood in front of the door nervously waiting to knock. I stood there another minute before finally knocking. No answer. That’s when dad showed up around the corner.

Chapter 5:  
Alaric POV-  
“Hey Jo, you okay?” She is standing outside Hope’s door with snacks and drinks in her arms. “Yeah dad, just meeting up with Hope to watch a movie but I’m not sure she is here. Do you know where she could have gone?” Josie has concern in her eyes. “She asked me earlier today if she could go run so you could try out back but be careful Josie if she is wolfed out,” I trailed off but Josie cut me off. “I know dad, I know,” before I could say anything else, she dropped the snacks against Hope’s door and headed towards the woods.  
Josie POV-  
I walk out the back doors of the school and start walking to the woods. I find Hope’s folded clothes under one of the bushes close to the entrance and start to call out, “Hope!” I begin to walk further into the woods. “Hope!”  
Hope POV-  
I don’t know how long I’ve been running. I needed this badly. I needed time away from my overthinking and the accident with the chimera. I never thought Josie would like me back. I’ve liked her since I was little. Since I met her at the school. And then she stayed with me at the hospital. I need to talk to her, tonight.  
I was headed back towards the school when I heard a voice, “Hope!” that was definitely Josie. I picked up speed and ran as fast as possible to the woods line. I couldn’t tell if she was in trouble or not. “Hope!” I heard it again. “I’m coming, Jo, I’m coming!” I say in my head.  
I finally see her. She’s looking around calling my name. “Hope!” She finally sees me and a sigh of relief floods her face but I don’t stop. I run right up to her and start to circle her looking around for threats with a growl leaving my throat immediately.  
Josie POV-  
“Hope!” Ugh, where is she? I finally turn and see her but she doesn’t slow down. “Woah, Hope,” she begins to circle me looking at the woods around us. “Hope, it’s okay you weren’t in your room so I wanted to come check on you. I’m okay.” Hope finally starts to relax. She turns around and licks my hand before nudging my leg to follow her back to her clothes.  
I follow Hope back over to the bush and turn around so she can change. “Hey Jo,” I turn back around to see Hope smiling at me before it falls as she remembers. “I am so sorry if I scared you, what time is it? I just needed to run and I lost track of time and then I didn’t know if you were in trouble,” Hope was flustered and scared that she hurt me. I walked up to Hope and placed my hand on her cheek. “Hope, look at me,” she shyly looks up at me. “We’re okay,” I lean forward and pull her face up to mine kissing her. Hope reacts quickly by walking me backwards and pushed me back against a tree placing her hand on my waist leaning into me more. We remained like that until oxygen became necessary. “Do you want to go back up to my room? I did promise you a movie night,” Hope looks up at me smirking. “You know it,” I peck Hope once more on the lips before we walked back into the school hand in hand and up to Hope’s room.  
Hope POV-  
We make it back up to my room, grab the snacks Josie left, then close my door. I grab ahold of Josie’s hand and pull her to my bed grabbing my computer as we sat down. “What would you like to watch, Jo?” I pull up Netflix as she thinks hard. “How about that, that looks good!” She points to the Netflix original, After, then looks up at me “I didn’t peg you for a romantic movie person,” Josie looks up at me and giggles. “Just cause it was recommended to me doesn’t mean I watch these all the time!” Josie reaches up and places her hand behind my neck, “Guess we have lots to learn about each other.” She pushes herself up to give me one more kiss. Each one better than the last. I set up the computer to sit on my lap as Josie places her head on my shoulder resting her hand on my leg which gives me chills immediately.  
Josie POV-  
“That was such a good movie,” I say then look up at Hope looking for confirmation that she enjoyed it too. “Yes, it was, however, I have a dilemma now.” I look at Hope confused, “What do you mean?” I didn’t know what she was going to say. Our whole relationship has developed in basically a week and I didn’t want her to leave, fear rushed over me. “It’s almost curfew and I really don’t want you to leave, please stay the night?” Hope looks at me with huge puppy dog eyes and batts her eyelashes.  
“I can’t say no when you look at me like that!” I’m laughing as I say it but I also don’t want to leave and I think she knows it. I spent the past 3 days being with her almost 24/7 minus classes. “Can I have clothes to sleep in?” Hope looks me up and down and says, “Of course, Jo, but you are also welcome to sleep in what you’re wearing under your clothes right now.” Hope smirks again and leans down to kiss my neck. “Hope Mikaelson, you are my greatest weakness.” Hope slips out of bed and grabs sleep shorts, a t-shirt, and a hoodie for Josie. “You go change and I’ll text your sister that you’re spending the night.” Lizzie will interrogate me tomorrow but for now I get to spend the night with Hope so I grab the clothes and head into the bathroom.  
Hope POV-  
I watch as Josie heads into my bathroom and shuts the door. I grab my phone and pull up Lizzie’s contact. “Hey Lizzie, its close to curfew and Jo is tired so she is just going to spend the night.” I send the text and wait for Josie to come back out of the bathroom. “These smell like you,” Josie grabs the hoodie to smell it again. “Glad you like it, cause you’re stuck with me now.” Josie sits down on the bed and slips under the covers. My phone buzzes with a text from Lizzie, “Hurt her and you’re dead Mikaelson. Sleep well.” I show Josie and she laughs. I set my phone back on the dresser and crawl under the covers. I lean over and turn off the side table lamp plunging the room into darkness except for the moonlight filtering through the curtains. I give Josie one last kiss before she rolls to her side and I move against her, her back against my chest. I wrap my arm around her before whispering, “Goodnight, Jo,” she scoots as close as she can to me before saying, “Goodnight, Hope.” I listen for a couple of minutes and hear her breathing finally slow down. I listen a little longer before slowly drifting asleep myself. 

Chapter 6:  
Josie POV-  
I wake up to see Hope’s arm still draped over my stomach. I was on my back now and she was on her side. I look over to see her still asleep. She starts to twitch a little and lets out a couple whimpers. “Hope, wake up,” I lightly try to shake her arm. She sits up quickly in the bed gasping for air. “Hope, hey, look at me,” Hope turns her head and I see her golden wolf eyes. I sit up and wrap my arms around her whispering in her ear, “It’s okay, I am right here, you’re okay,” repeatedly. Finally, she blinks away her wolf eyes to show me her gorgeous blue eyes again.  
“How often does that happen?” I know she can see the concern on my face. Hope lays back down on the bed and I lay down with my head on her stomach slowly rubbing circles on her arm. “Often, makes it hard for me to get decent sleep,” she sighs then adds after a couple of seconds, “Thank you for calming me down.” I look up at her as she looks back down at me, “Always.” I grab her hand and we sit there for what feels like forever as she plays with my fingers.  
Hope’s phone buzzes once, “Don’t worry about it, I don’t want to leave this bed.” I smile up at Hope as she gives my forehead a kiss but we are interrupted by her phone buzzing again. “Just check it, Hope.” She makes a very dramatic motion to grab the phone off the side table without removing her hand from mine. “I have one text from Lizzie that says, ‘My turn to have Josie time.’ And another text from your dad ‘Training today, 11?’.”  
Hope POV-  
“Alright, we are being summoned, so you go find your sister and I’ll go train with your dad.” Josie hugs me tighter and gives me a super pouty face. “5 more minutes.” She buries her head into my side and I just laugh. I reach down to her sides and begin poking her incessantly. “Hope, stop, I, ahh, Hope!” Josie jumps back to the other side of the bed giving me a chance to slip away. “I don’t have the will power to leave if you’re laying on me,” Josie crawls across the bed and stands up in front of me placing her hands around my waist. “I know something else that would distract you more,” she winks at me before turning around, going to the bathroom, and shutting the door. I can’t help but think that I am in for a world of hurt because Josie Saltzman is going to kill me.  
A couple minutes later, Josie opens the door a couple inches, “Can I keep this hoodie for the day?” I look at her smiling face and can’t resist. “Yeah Jo, take it.” She comes out of the bathroom and gives me a hug and a quick kiss on the lips before heading for the door. “Good luck at training, I’ll see you later today,” and with that Josie leaves towards her and her sister’s room.  
Josie POV-  
I make it back to my room and am greeted by Lizzie who is waiting for me to spill the news. “So, a sleepover, I see. How did it go? Tell me everything!” she hesitates, “Minus any mature content.” Lizzie’s face flushes. I begin to recount last night’s events after collapsing on my bed with a huge smile on my face.  
“You even have her hoodie on, it clearly was a good night,” Lizzie is happy for me, I can see it on her face. It hurt her to see how upset Penelope made me when she broke up with me. “Well there is another party tonight if you and Hope want to come along,” Lizzie smiles at Josie,” I think MG is going to ask me to the fall dance tonight.” I love how happy MG makes Lizzie. Finally, both of us are getting some well deserved happiness.  
Alaric POV-  
“You seem pretty distracted today, how are your nightmares lately?” Hope clearly didn’t like this question. “Manageable,” Hope ducks as I swing for her head. “Want to tell me what they are about lately, because they had stopped to the best of my knowledge.” I swiped her leg causing her to drop to the ground hard. “Nothing to concern yourself with,” Hope grunts as she stands back up. “Emma is always available to talk if you want to.” Hope manages to jump behind me finally gaining an edge and places me in a choke hold. I tap her arm to tell her to stop. “Thanks Dr. Saltzman but I am good,” Hope walks off back towards the school and I follow shortly after.  
Hope POV-  
I pull out my phone to text Josie. “Hey Jo, how is sister bonding going?” I step into the food line in the cafeteria and get some food before sitting down at one of the tables by the windows. My phone buzzes and I see it’s Josie. “It is good, was just curious about my night.” Before I can respond another text pops up. “Party tonight at the Old Mill, want to go for a little bit?” I hesitate to answer. “I don’t know Jo, parties aren’t my scene.” I feel bad knowing I am probably disappointing Josie if she really wants to go. “We can talk about it later, dinner at 6?” “See you then.” I finish eating my lunch and walk back to my room to get caught up on my homework from this past week that I missed.  
6 o’clock rolls around and there is a knock on my door. “it’s open,” Josie walks in and jumps into my lap. “Hey,” she looks up into my eyes and I lean down to kiss her, a smile forming as we kiss. When she breaks away, she looks back up at me and grabs my hand. “We don’t have to go tonight I just offered because Lizzie invited us to join her and MG.” She looks a little nervous as I rub circles on her hand with my thumb. “On one condition,” Josie laughs before trying to put a serious look on her face, “Hope Mikaelson this better be a clean comment,” I laugh and peck her on the lips. “Just don’t leave me alone tonight? Crowds overwhelm me and I just need someone to ground me with all the people around.” I am not quite sure what to expect as a response but Josie pulls her hand from mine and gives me a huge hug. “Remember what you said this morning? You’re stuck with me,” she winks at me before grabbing my hand again. “Come on, let’s go grab dinner.”

Chapter 7:  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I finish dinner then head back to my room to get ready for the party which was starting about 8 pm. She turns on some music to get ready to. “Hey Jo?” I look over at Jo who is touching up her make up in the bathroom mirror. She looks over to me as I walk towards her placing my hands around her waist and kissing the back of her neck which causes Josie to smile. “Yes, Hope?” I take a deep breath trying to calm myself.  
“I know that we have only been hanging out for like a week but I have technically known you for years. And-“ I gulp. I am not used to talking about my feelings. “Will you, will you be my girlfriend?” Josie rotates in my arms so she was facing me and leaned down to kiss me placing her right hand on my neck while her left hand still held mascara. “I’ll take that as a yes then?” I wanted a verbal answer. “Of course, I will be your girlfriend, Hope, yes yes yes!” We kissed again before Josie turns back around to finish her make up. I go back into my room and sit on my bed just watching my beautiful girlfriend and smiling like crazy.  
Josie POV-  
Hope asked me to be her girlfriend. I can’t believe it. I never thought this day would come. I need to tell Lizzie she is going to freak. I finish touching up my makeup before looking over and seeing Hope smiling like an idiot. “Take a picture it’ll last long,” I say as I walk over towards her. “Wait, you’re saying I can take pictures of you?” Hope smirks. “I push Hope down onto the bed and crawl on top of her. Hope lets out a slight moan as I start to kiss her neck. Hope’s hands trailing up my hips and under my shirt. Just as things are starting to get a little more heated there is a knock at Hope’s door.  
“Jo? Are you in there?” Hope looks at me and sighs. I move off her and go get the door. “Hey Lizzie, what’s up?” I try to slow down my breathing as it feels like my heart is racing. “Well, MG and I are leaving for the party and we wanted to see if you two were coming along?” I look back at Hope who is grabbing our phones and then walks up behind me. “Yep, we are ready,” Hope grabs my hand as we leave and the four of us walk towards the woods.  
Hope POV-  
It feels weird walking out to the woods and not changing into my wolf. Instead I agreed to hang out with a ton of drunk high schoolers. But I am here for Josie. I could tell she wanted to come out here. We walk up the stairs into the Old Mill. I had never seen it like this. Someone had hung up lights along the roof of the old barn and it looked less abandoned. Josie and I followed Lizzie and MG over to the alcohol and grabbed beers before we moved over to a far corner. Josie must have told Lizzie I was nervous.  
“So, how was your day?” Josie winked at Lizzie. “Well,” Lizzie looks over at MG and smiles, “MG asked me to the dance today. He had flowers and a sign and everything.” Lizzie leans over and kisses MG on the cheek. Josie still is holding my hand and gives it a little squeeze. She leans over to whisper in my ear, “Up to you if we tell her.” She didn’t want to push me but I knew Lizzie would like to know. We have been closer these past couple of days after I protected Josie in the woods.  
“Well we have news, too,” I look over at Josie giving her the option to tell her sister. “We are dating now,” Josie smiles before Lizzie engulfs her in a hug. “Finally!” MG and Lizzie both laugh. “We figured it would happen sooner rather than later. We saw how close you and Hope were getting,” MG hugs Josie, “Congrats though bestie.”  
Josie POV-  
Lizzie and MG knew now. I didn’t expect Hope to want to tell anyone yet. It was just so recent but Lizzie and MG responded well which probably helped. “Lizzie care to dance?” MG bows and takes Lizzie’s hand before they move to the middle of the dance floor.  
Hope and I talked in that same corner for most of the night about random things until Lizzie and MG joined us again. “Want a drink? I need a drink,” Lizzie grabs Hopes hand to pull her towards the alcohol leaving Hope alone with MG. “I will be right back, I promise!” I make sure Hope acknowledges before I leave with Lizzie.  
Hope POV-  
MG and I talk for a little bit before he gets called away by Kaleb. “Go ahead, I’m just waiting on the twins to come back,” MG waves bye and heads off with Kaleb. I start talking to myself in my head, “It’s okay, you’re okay, Josie will be right back.” I grab ahold of the wall to try and ground myself.  
It has been too long, Lizzie and Josie should have been back by now. I look over to see Alaric running as fast as he can towards the party. “Hope?” he looks confused as to why I am here. “What’s up, Dr. Saltzman?” His face can’t hide his worry. “There’s a new monster.”  
My heart drops. “I need to find Josie,” Alaric starts to move students back inside the school. Where is Josie? She was here just a couple of minutes ago. My anger and worry was intensifying. Alaric moves back towards me. “Did you see Lizzie or Josie?” I look at Alaric pleading with my eyes. “No, I-“ I rush out into the nearby woods. “Josie!” Tears are flooding my eyes now. “Josie!” Alaric follows me. “What is going on, Hope?” Tears are overflowing now, “Josie and Lizzie were here at the party and now they are not!” I am having trouble containing myself.  
“Let me call Dorian and have him check their room.” Alaric calls Dorian as I am pacing back and forth. “Hope,” Alaric turns around to look at me. I could see it in his eyes that they weren’t in the school. I turn around and punch the tree next to me as hard as possible causing it to break in half and fall before collapsing to the ground crying. 

Chapter 8:  
Alaric POV-  
I just watched Hope break a tree in half with her hand. The realization hits me too. The new monster probably took my girls. I kneel down next to Hope, “Hope, we need to move inside. We need to find out what took them to get them back.” Hope doesn’t move. I am trying to remain calm but it is getting harder to. “Hope, let’s go!” She finally stands up nursing her broken hand which should heal soon and we walk back towards the school.  
We get back and Dorian meets us at the entrance. “We need to start researching immediately,” Dorian looks to me, “Do we have anything to go off? We don’t know what this monster is.” I try to remember the brief glance I got when I saw it headed towards the woods. “It looked like a deer or stag but it had wings and talons?” The words coming out of my mouth would sound absurd if this wasn’t a typical situation. “You’re telling me a flying deer grabbed the twins?” I can tell Hope is trying to remain calm but is failing.  
“Hope, why don’t you go get your hand looked at then join Dorian and me in the library.” Hope nods and walks off. “What happened?” Dorian looks at me confused referencing why Hope was clutching her hand. “Punched a tree in half, no biggie,” Dorian’s eyes go wide. “Damn, okay, well, let’s go to the library,” we both walk towards the library and start looking for books mentioning a deer or stag with wings.  
Hope POV-  
I walk to the infirmary and the nurse checks out my hand. She says it’ll heal by itself but it will probably take at least 24 hours. She gave me some ibuprofen to help manage the pain. Before I head to the library, I stop by my room to change and can’t help but walk by Josie’s room. I try the door and find it unlocked so I go in. Her room feels so empty especially knowing she isn’t going to walk in any second. I walk over to her desk and see one of her hoodies on the chair. It still smells like her so I grab it and put it on walking towards the library.  
“Have we found anything?” It’s been about an hour since I went to the infirmary. “Actually, yes,” Alaric picks up a book that is laying on the table. “It is called a Peryton, hybrid stag bird combo,” Alaric shows me the book. “Do we know how to kill it?” I’m trying to remain hopeful but it is hard when my girlfriend is missing. “Found it!” Dorian holds up a different book from across the library.  
“To kill a Peryton we have to kill it’s shadow with a blessed weapon. The more people it kills, the stronger the shadow. It can also morph into a man with enough kills,” Dorian looks up at Alaric. “If it just came through Malivore or was resurrected its’ shadow shouldn’t be too difficult to kill.” “But how do we find it and the twins? I can try a locator spell but they are probably cloaked.” Alaric looks at Dorian as they try to come up with an idea.  
“Wait, I could do a pink crystal visual teleport. I can basically visualize the twins and show up where they are. I can see as best I can where they are and if they are doing okay, I just can’t touch them and I can’t be harmed when there.” Alaric’s face lights up, “Do you know where one of those crystals is?” Josie had talked to me about it before because that is how the twins communicated when Lizzie was in Europe with Caroline. “I think Josie has one, I’ll go check their room and call my Aunt Freya to get the spell.”  
I get to Josie’s room and feel bad that I am riffling through their things but I know Josie and Lizzie will understand considering that I’m trying to save them. I finally find the crystal in Josie’s side table. I pull out my phone and call Aunt Freya.  
Freya POV-  
“Freya, dinner is ready!” Keelin calls up to me so I grab Nik and head downstairs. I get him strapped into his highchair right as my phone buzzes. I look down to see it’s Hope. “Keelin, it’s Hope I’ll be right back,” I step outside to take the call. “Hey sweetie, how is everything?” I can hear Hope trying to calm her breathing. “Josie and Lizzie were taking by a Peryton and I want to do a pink crystal visual teleport but I don’t know the spell,” Hope takes in a deep breath of air. “Okay, well, do you have a pen and paper?”  
Hope POV-  
“Thanks Aunt Freya, I’ll be careful, love you,” I hang up the phone and look down at the spell and careful instructions. I need to visualize Josie clearly in my mind. Her hoodie should help me form the attachment to see her. Then, I need to recite the spell. I should show up where the twins are, and they should be able to see me. I head back to the library and see Dorian and Alaric. “Ready?” I look to Alaric and nod my head.  
I sit down in one of the library chairs and place the crystal in my left hand. I have the sheet of paper with the spell laying on my right leg. I pull the hoodie up to cover my mouth and nose so I can get Josie’s scent. I recite the spell and close my eyes. 

Chapter 9:  
Josie POV-  
I slowly blink open my eyes and quickly realize my hands are bound behind me. I reach out and feel a hand. I turn my head as far around as possible to see blonde hair. “Lizzie?” I try to grab her hand but it is a little too far away with her not trying to grab my hand back. “Lizzie, wake up,” she starts to stir a little, “Let me sleep, Jo, it’s Sunday.” I try to grab her hand again and just graze her fingers. “Lizzie, open your eyes, now,” she lifts her head. “What the hell?”  
Lizzie POV-  
“How did we get here?” a wave of pain shoots through my head where I can feel my pulse behind my eyes. “What is the last thing you remember, Jo?” Josie is quiet for a second before speaking. “We walked over to get more drinks when we saw something by a tree a couple of feet away. We walked over and,” Josie stops, “That’s all I remember.” I sigh. “Well this is just great.” I reach out and Josie and I grab each other’s hand as best as possible. The chairs we were bound to had us back to back.  
Josie POV-  
We were sitting there in silence for a couple of seconds when I remembered. Oh my gosh, Hope. It was flooding back a little. “Lizzie, we left Hope. She was waiting for us to come back.” A tear rolls down my cheek as I let out a shaky breath. “Jo, you know she’s doing everything she can to find us,” Lizzie gave my hand a quick squeeze. “Where are we?” I look around to see a bare room with tan walls. It had one window, one white door, and wooden floors.  
I hear someone coming up what sounds like stairs. The white door clicks as someone unlocks it. I turn my head around to see a guy walk into the room. Probably 5’11 with short brown hair, a black hoodie, and jeans. “Well hello twins, glad you can finally join us,” Lizzie scoffs. “And you are?” she really should drop the sass but I know that’s her coping mechanism when she’s nervous.  
“My name isn’t important. What is important is that Hope Mikaelson shows up to save you and she can finally be eliminated. Her entire family destroyed my life so I plan to make them suffer as much as I have.” A voice calls from downstairs, “Hey, can you come down here real quick?” The man rolls his eyes. “No one is capable of doing their jobs by themselves anymore are they? Well, I’ll be back later. Enjoy the view,” he laughs to himself before leaving the room and locking the door behind him. I let out a shaky breath. “Lizzie, what are we going to do?” We sat there in silence for what felt like hours before I see her.  
Hope POV-  
I open my eyes to see Josie and Lizzie bound in chairs back to back. “Hope?” Josie’s voice croaks out, confused. I rush over and kneel in front of her placing my hands on her thighs. She looks down but I know she can’t feel me. “Are you guys okay? Did they hurt you?” I look into Josie’s eyes that are red from crying. “Thank god, Hope? Is that really you? Josie you see her too right? This isn’t just an episode?” Josie lets out a small laugh. “No Lizzie, it’s really her,” Josie looks down at my hand and can see that a couple of my bones are still healing because my fingers are slightly crooked and the knuckles are bruised. “Hope, what happened to your hand?” I look at my hand before looking back up at Josie,” I can tell you later, right now, I have to figure out where you are.”  
I stand up and walk over to the window and see rows and rows of white tomb stones in the distance. It is getting closer to nighttime now; I didn’t realize how long we were researching. “Hope?” Josie’s voice sounds broken, it hurts me so much to hear her like that. “This, this man came into the room he looked probably 5’11, brown hair, hoodie, and jeans. Nothing unique about him. He wants you to show up so he can kill you. You can’t come here. He said your family ruined his life, I just, Hope I can’t let you get hurt for us.” I walk back over to Josie and place my hand on Lizzie’s shoulder as well to try and comfort her. “I am going to come find you, I will bring you home. Remember, you’re stuck with me, Jo.” Josie lets out a laugh. I turn to look at Lizzie, “And Lizzie, MG needs you to come home too so you can go to the dance together. We will bring you both back. Your dad is worried sick.” Lizzie looks up at me and gives me a smile with a quiet thank you.  
“Jo,” I turn back to look at her. “I love you, Jo, I just want you to know that,” a tear rolls down her cheek. I try to wipe it away but quickly remember I can’t. “I love you too Hope,” Josie tries to lean into my hand that she can see but not feel. I hear some movement downstairs so I look at the twins once more. “I will be back, I promise, stay strong.” Josie looks up at me as I stand back up as she quietly says, “Always.” I hear the door unlocking so I concentrate on returning and close my eyes. 

Chapter 10:  
Hope POV-  
I open my eyes to see Dorian and Alaric staring at me. “Arlington National cemetery, they are still in Virginia. There was a man who took them? He said he is planning on me coming to rescue the twins then he can kill me. He said my family hurt his or something; he wants revenge. And the girls are okay, they are bound in chairs but otherwise unharmed.” A sigh of relief escapes Alaric but not for long. “Alright, Arlington is about four hours away. Let’s prep.”  
I head to my room and put on music while packing a suitcase. “Someone You Loved,” comes on and it reminds me so much of Josie. I still have her hoodie on, and I don’t have the heart to take it off. I finish packing and meet Alaric downstairs. “Kaleb, MG, Raf?” What are you guys doing here? And with a suitcase?” They all three look towards Alaric but Kaleb responds, “Super squad is here to help.” Dorian comes around the corner last and says, “Alright, let’s go.”  
I hop into the front seat with Alaric driving, MG and Kaleb hop into the back row, and Dorian and Raf sit in the middle row. We want to leave now so we can do some recon before running in without preparation. Alaric looks over at me, “You should try to sleep, we won’t have the chance for much more in the near future.” I look to the back seats and see MG, Kaleb, and Raf all asleep. Dorian is reading a book about the Peryton on his phone. It is hard to argue with Alaric when I haven’t slept in 48 hours, and I expended a ton of energy doing the pink crystal visual teleport. “Wake me if you need me,” I lean my head against the window and watch as the woods pass us by. I pull out my headphones and start playing “HOLD YOU DOWN” by X Ambassadors. Finally, I succumb to sleep.  
Alaric POV-  
We’ve been driving about two hours now and it’s 1 am. 2 more hours to go. I look over to see Hope finally asleep. She’s been through so much lately; I know she needed this sleep. Dorian and the boys are also sound asleep in the back. I’ve got music playing quietly over the radio to help me stay awake. About ten minutes later, Hope starts to mumble under her breath. I look over to see if I can see what she is saying. “Josie,” she trails off. There is definitely something going on between the two of them that is causing Hope to dream of Josie.  
We finally arrive at a hotel that is within walking distance of the Arlington National Cemetery. “Hope,” I lightly call her name out. She sits up quickly and opens her golden wolf eyes. She blinks a couple of times before they clear out. “How did you sleep?” I am genuinely asking but am also curious if she will mention her dream. “Fine,” she leans her head back against the window as she rubs some sleep out of her eyes. I turn around to look towards the back of the car. “Alright, guys we are here, let’s get inside then we can sleep for a little longer.” I hop out of the car followed by Dorian who helps me check into the hotel. We get two adjourning rooms with two queen beds and a living space each.  
I go back out to the car and see the boys and Hope grab suitcases. They follow us upstairs to the rooms. “Alright,” I hand each of them a keycard, “These are for your rooms.” I turn to look at the boys and Hope, there are four beds in these two rooms, so each of you grab one. Get some more sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.” Each room also has a pull out couch so Dorian and I each set them up and fall asleep quickly.  
Hope POV-  
I wake up to see MG still fast asleep on the bed next to me and Alaric asleep on the pull out couch. I go into the bathroom and take a quick shower before returning to the room. I pull out my phone and see that it is about 8 am. I grab my key card for the room and carefully open it to step outside.  
I can see the tombstones from here in the Arlington National Cemetery. The view I have right now doesn’t equal the view I saw when I was with the twins. I try to gauge where the window would have been facing out from. I know we were probably in a second story house and that it faced Arlington but Arlington is something like 600 acres. We will have to set up a perimeter to look later for the potential window. I step back inside to see Alaric stirring awake.  
Alaric POV-  
Hope and I hop into the car while everyone else was still sleeping. “Alright, what are we looking for?” I look to Hope since she saw the view out of the window. “It is a second story window overlooking the headstones. It looked like the house was across the street. If I am remembering correctly there is a huge tree in the front yard which blocked part of the view.” Okay so we are looking for a house with a tree in the yard and a window facing Arlington. This is going to take a while.  
Hope and I are driving around when Hope tells me to slow down and pull over. She points up ahead at a yellow house. “There, I bet that is it,” Hope sounds confident in her answer but we can’t just barge into some random person’s house. “Okay, well stake it out for the next hour and see if anyone comes in or out.”  
Hope POV-  
Those crime shows make stake outs look fun but we don’t have soda and junk food to entertain us. I look down at my hand and see it is healed, finally. Alaric and I have been sitting here for about 45 minutes when a man exits the house. He fit Josie’s generic description the man who talked to them. “Alaric, that is the guy who threatened me.” He looks up from his phone and sees him. “We found them.” A sigh escapes my lips as we turn to head back to the hotel.


	2. The Dance

Chapter 11:  
Hope POV-  
Alaric and I get back to the hotel and go upstairs. MG, Kaleb, and Raf are awake now along with Dorian. “Good news team, we found the house where they are keeping them,” the boys look at each other with huge smiles on their faces. “Our plan is to go in tonight to get the girls back. But, before we leave tonight,” I look to Dorian and Alaric, “Both of you need to take some of my blood just in case worse comes to worse. I will not lose either one of you.” They both nod their heads in response. “T-minus 7 hours and we attack.”  
We spent the afternoon doing some simple training exercises with Alaric and created a game plan strategy. I bit my hand and put some blood in a mug for Alaric and another for Dorian to drink an hour before we left. We wanted as much of a safety net with the blood in their systems because we didn’t know how long this fight would last. We all changed into darker clothes to try and lower the chances that we are spotted early.   
It is about an hour before we want to go into the house so we sit down in one of the living spaces to convene. Alaric and Dorian are drinking my blood as I talk. “Okay, we are going to drive up in the car and park it about a quarter mile away.” I turn to look at Kaleb and MG. “Raf is going to bust down the front door and I want you to run in and snap all of the necks you can find.” They nod in understanding. “I know there is at least the guy who talked to the twins who could potentially be the Peryton transformed into a man and someone who called him downstairs but there are likely more. Snapping their necks should give us enough time to get in and out hopefully before they wake back up, even if they are supernatural.”   
I turn to look at Raf, “Raf, I need you to go around back after breaking down the door and clear the premises. We don’t want anyone slipping out of our grasp.” Raf nods at me. “Dorian and Alaric, follow MG and Kaleb inside after a couple of seconds to clear the rest of the rooms.” They both finish drinking the blood and shake their heads at the iron taste. At least I don’t have to worry about them dying tonight. “I will follow in after Kaleb and MG to find the girls. When you have swept the house, follow me upstairs.” Everyone nods in agreement. “Alright, let’s roll.”  
We all pile into the car and sit in silence as we drive over to the house. We park down the street and as quiet as possible begin to move in. We get up to the house and Raf attempts to listen through the door, he looks back at me and mouths “Four voices”. I look and MG and Kaleb and give them the go ahead.   
Raf kicks in the door and MG and Kaleb vamp into the house. Raf begins to run around back to catch any runners. I follow into the house with Dorian and Alaric behind me. Four bodies lay with snapped necks around me. MG and Kaleb pair up with Dorian and Alaric to check the rest of the house. I head up the stairs.  
I hear voices talking as I turn down the left side of the hallway. I place my ear against the door and hear a male voice talking. “Don’t worry girls, it won’t be much longer,” I step back from the door as MG and Kaleb reach the top of the steps. I walk over and whisper, “He’s in there with the twins. I am going to go in. Give me backup in five minutes; I’ll make sure I leave the door open.” They nod back as Alaric and Dorian reach the top of the stairs. I nod in their direction then head to the door.   
I grab the handle and open the door slowly to find Lizzie and Josie still tired to the chairs but each of their faces now contains cuts and bruises. The man stands behind the girls with a knife to Josie’s throat. Silent tears are streaming down both of their faces. “Lovely, for you to finally join us, took you long enough,” he smirks. “Look, you want me,” I raise my hands to show I am unarmed, “Let them go and you can have me.” Josie can’t contain herself and shouts out, “No, Hope! Get out of here, he’s going to kill you!” The man digs the knife into her neck a little farther as a bead of blood rolls down her neck.  
“Please, pull the knife away from her neck and let them go. You have me.” I don’t drop my eye contact with the man as I walk a little closer away from the door frame. Josie is full on crying now as Lizzie grabs her hand. The man starts to pull the knife away from Josie’s neck as my two minutes are up. I hear MG and Kaleb take that first step forward to vamp in here so I lunge forward and transform into my wolf. My teeth wrap around the man’s throat as MG and Kaleb run into the room.

Chapter 12:  
Alaric POV-  
I run into the room after Kaleb and MG to see Hope in her wolf form shredding the man. Kaleb and MG untie the girls and help them leave the room as they haven’t been given food or water for the past 36 hours. They can hardly move without help. Raf pulls the car up in front of the house as planned. The girls crawl in as Dorian and I follow. Everyone hops in and waits for Hope to come out. Josie tries to leave the car to go back in after her fighting against Kaleb to let her out, but finally, Hope walks out the door. She snagged a jacket off one of the guys and hobbles her way out to the car. She jumps in and we speed off back towards the hotel.   
Hope POV-  
I change out of my wolf form and grab the jacket off the closest guy to me. The man managed to stab my leg when I attacked him so I was hobbling as it healed. I finally made it out the front door and jumped into the car. I get engulfed with the biggest hug from Josie who is sobbing into my neck. No one says much as we make our way back to the hotel. We want to get out of town as soon as possible because we don’t know how long it will take for the Peryton to reform after I dismembered it.  
I grab Josie’s arm as we walk upstairs to one of the hotel rooms so I can grab my suitcase and change. The boys all pack up their suitcases and leave to pack the car. Josie doesn’t want to leave my side yet, so she follows me into the bathroom. She watches as I grab some clothes from my suitcase and change putting on her hoodie. Once I am done, I walk over to Josie who is sitting on the toilet lid watching me. I take one of the plastic cups left by the sink and bite my hand filling the cup with some of my blood. “Hey Jo, I missed you,” she stands up and places her hands on my neck kissing me with a heated passion before burying her head into my neck hugging me. “I missed you too,” she mumbles into my neck. I hand her the cup for her to drink some so the cuts and bruises on her face can heal. We stand there for a couple of seconds before I whisper in her ear, “Come on, Jo, we need to go,” I grab her hand and she follows me out to the car then we head back to school.  
I give Lizzie the rest of the blood to heal her cuts when we get into the car. Lizzie, Josie, and I are sitting in the middle row, boys in the back, and Dorian and Alaric up front. Josie puts in my headphones to prevent her car sickness and lays her head on my shoulder. She has her arm wrapped around mine with a tight grip but manages to fall asleep. After about twenty minutes, I look over at Lizzie when Josie is fast asleep.  
“What happened in there while I was gone?” Lizzie looks down to the floor of the car. “Let’s just say they didn’t like how long it took you to find us. They figured if you could feel our pain, which you and I both know you can’t, that it would motivate you to find us faster but they wouldn’t listen. They said that Jo smelled like you so they figured-” Lizzie’s eyes get teary as she trailed off. “They figured you had imprinted on her. Something about shared feelings and being able to communicate to each other in your heads? I don’t know. It was bad though, Hope, first Jo gets buried alive then this?” Lizzie sighs. “You are good for her and I just wanted to thank you for saving us. You were the only thing keeping her going.” Lizzie leans back and places her head against the car window and falls asleep.  
We are probably about an hour away from the school now. Alaric looks back at me in the rearview mirror to see I am still awake. “Want to tell me about you and my daughter?” He looks back towards the road with a smile on his face. “I, um, we are dating now since I asked her a couple of days ago but this has been a long time coming,” He doesn’t look shocked. “Yeah, I figured seeing as she almost had another breakdown when you didn’t come out of the house fast enough.” We sat in silence for a couple of seconds. “You make her happy, Hope, and you protect her. I just, thank you,” Alaric shuts his mouth and looks at the road in front of him. “Always, Dr. Saltzman.”  
We arrive back at the school at about 4 am. I pick up Josie who was still asleep and carry her up to my room. Lizzie follows us upstairs. “You’re welcome to sleep in the spare bed, Lizzie, I know you probably don’t want to leave her side.” I pull back the covers and cover Josie up. “Thanks Hope,” Lizzie crawls into the spare bed, and I crawl into mine. As soon as I am under the covers, Josie subconsciously adjusts so she is laying against me, her arm wrapped around my stomach tightly. I turn off the side table light, and I am finally able to sleep seeing that my girl is back home with me. 

Chapter 13:  
Josie POV-  
I open my eyes to see Lizzie sleeping in the bed next to me. I try to roll over to my other side but something is holding me in place. I look down. Hope. Her arm is draped around my stomach clutching me tight to her. I look around and finally see that I am in Hope’s room not mine. I slowly peel away her arm to turn around so my face is towards hers. I lean forward to peck her on the nose. Hope scrunches her eyes together before rubbing at them with her hand. Her eyes start to flutter open, “Good morning, babe,” Hope smiles but keeps her eyes shut. “What time is it?” She rolls over to check the time on her phone. “1pm.” She rolls back over and wraps me in a huge hug barely leaving me room to breathe. “Hope, I, I can’t breathe,” she quietly laughs and releases me. “I love you,” she opens her eyes to look at me, “I love you too, Jo.”  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I quietly try to change so we can go get some food without waking Lizzie. Most kids should be in class right now since it is a Monday, but Alaric is giving us the day to recoup. I throw her one of my hoodies before we head down to the cafeteria.   
We run into Alaric on our way down to get food. “Hey, Hope and Josie, Hope can you swing by my office when you are done?” Josie looks concerned that I am standing so close because she thinks he doesn’t know we are dating. “Yep, I’ll be there in about 45 minutes.” Alaric nods and keeps walking. I turn to look at Josie whose eyes are wide open. “Jo, I told him on the ride back last night, he knows.” I chuckle at how quickly she shut down. “You could have told me that!” she gives me a light shove but I catch her hand. “Come on, I’m starving.” We walk the rest of the way hand in hand.  
Alaric POV-  
There is a knock on my door, “Come in!” Hope walks in and sits down. I look at her smug expression and can’t help but ask, “You didn’t tell Josie I know, did you?” I start to laugh, “No, but she knows now. It was kind of funny to see her reaction.” I look down at the paperwork on my desk with a slight chuckle, too. “Well, I need help setting up more permanent boundaries. We figure the Peryton will come back so if you could help Emma with that otherwise I will leave you and Josie be for the rest of the day to do whatever,” I make a face regretting what I just said. I then sigh as I continue to look at my paperwork avoiding eye contact, “Be responsible.” Hope laughs and walks out of my office.  
Josie POV-  
I head back to Hope’s room with a food tray for Lizzie. I open the door to see her opening her eyes. “Hey Liz, I brought you food,” I hand her the tray then sit down on the bed next to her. “Where is Hope?” Lizzie looks towards the bathroom. “Dad wanted to see her so she is with him right now.” She raises one eyebrow at me. “You know you have to tell him eventually, right? He’s not going to kill Hope. Plus, you guys have gone through so much lately” I laugh to myself. “Hope told him last night then let me believe he didn’t know this morning so I made a fool of myself,” Lizzie starts to laugh. “Hope Mikaelson, that trickster.” I sit with Lizzie making small talk keeping her company as she finishes eating her food.  
Hope POV-  
I leave Alaric’s office and walk down the hall to Emma’s. I knock twice before hearing a “Come in”. “Hey Hope, how can I help you?” I sit down in the chair across from her. “Dr. Saltzman asked me to help you enforce the boundary.” She stands up and walks towards her door, “That is right, come with me please.” I follow Emma out past the garden to the front gate of the school. “We will start here and work our way around. The Peryton probably flew into the boundary from the sky last time so I want to try this spell. It has an overhead protection as well to prevent flying creatures from entering.” She pulls out a sheet of paper with the spell on it and hands it to me. “You walk one way; I walk the other, and we will meet on the other side.” Emma and I recite the spell at the same time right at the gate before walking in our own directions. It took us about an hour to meet on the other side. “Perfect, thank you for your help, Hope. How are you and Josie doing?” My face blushes. Alaric probably told her. “She seems to be doing better today than yesterday.” Emma walks back inside the school with me. “I’m glad, if you or Josie need anything please feel free to stop by.” With that, she turns and walks towards her office while I head upstairs towards my room.   
My room is empty when I get there so I assume Josie and Lizzie went back to their room. I jump onto my bed and pull out my phone checking for messages. “Hey Hope, I am in my room with Lizzie, talk tonight at dinner? Around 7?” I smile at my phone instantly when I read her message, “See you then.” I set my phone down and fall back onto my bed thinking to myself, “I’ve got planning to do.” I jump back off my bed and walk out of my room.

Chapter 14:  
Josie POV-  
I am sitting with Lizzie on her bed. “Have you talked to MG today?” Lizzie blushes. “Yeah he came by earlier to see what color he needed to get for his tie so he could match me for the dance.” She looks down at her hands practically vibrating with excitement. “I totally forgot that the dance is next weekend. I wonder if Hope wants to go. Lizzie and I sit there talking about everything under the sun trying to forget about the weekend from hell we just had.   
Hope POV-  
I walk outside the back doors of the school, sit down at the bottom of the school steps, and pull out my phone. I scroll through my contacts until I find Aunt Freya’s. She picks up after a couple of rings. “Hey Hope, did you find Josie and Lizzie?” I recount the past weekend for my aunt as she quietly listens. “So, are the girls doing okay now? I know that probably has traumatized them.” I start picking at the grass down by my feet. “Yeah, I think they are pushing past it to try and move on. But I had an idea to distract Josie.” Freya lets out a small laugh “Oh? And what is this plan of yours?”   
“Well, I want to ask Josie to the dance that is next weekend. She and I are dating.” I pause waiting for a response from Aunt Freya. “So, that is why finding her was so important. That makes sense now. Does she treat you well?” I can feel my face get hot as I blush. “Yes, Aunt Freya,” I roll my eyes and let out a small laugh at how protective she is. She has been my motherly figure ever since my parents died with the help of my other family members.   
“Anyways, I wanted to run some ideas by you. What do you think if I get flowers and make a sign to have in my room? Or I could set it up in the woods out back by our school. I just want it to be special. MG got Lizzie flowers and made a sign and asked her in front of the school.” I start to trail off. There is a quiet pause. “Do you think Josie wants something so public?” She is not wrong. Private would be more special, I think. “No probably not.” I stop messing with the grass. “Then there is your answer. Hope, she will like whatever you do for her, she clearly has very strong feelings for you as you do for her.” I nod my head in agreement. “I’ve just got one more question, what can you tell me about imprinting?”   
Josie POV-  
I look down at my phone and see the time. “Shoot, I’m late to meet Hope. I need to get ready,” I hop of the bed as Lizzie continues to talk to me about what MG has planned and how she thinks he could be the one after all he helped save her life. I grab my jacket and tell Lizzie goodbye before rushing out the door. Hope’s room is only a couple doors down but I was a couple minutes late. I raise my hand to knock on the door when Hope beats me to it by opening my door. “You know, you don’t need to knock anymore, you practically live her,” Hope winks at me before pulling me into a quick kiss.   
Hope POV-  
“I’m sorry I am late, Lizzie and I lost track of time.” I can tell Josie is worried that this weekend has me paranoid to lose her again. I would be lying if I said it didn’t but it was two minutes. Plus, I was busy setting up her surprise. “Jo, it is okay, really, we are okay.” She nods her head, “Ready for dinner?” She grabs my hand and we walk hand in hand down to the cafeteria.   
“Hey Josie, hey Hope, how was your guys days?” Josie and I sit down at the table with MG. “Pretty good, helped set up a new boundary spell with Emma then relaxed.” I looked over to Josie to hear about her day next. “I spent most of the day just talking with Lizzie until dinner. She is so excited to go to the dance with you, MG.” MG looks down at his food blushing. “I can’t wait to take her, I can’t believe she said yes.” We all finish our food and Josie and I say goodbye to MG.  
“Hey babe wait,” I grab her hand. “I’ve got something for you to see,” Josie’s face lights up. “Where are we going?” She can’t hide the smile breaking out on her face. “That is for me to know and you to find out,” I wink before leading Josie out the back doors of the school.   
Josie POV-  
“Alright, close your eyes, I’ll make sure you don’t fall,” Hope places both hands on my shoulders to direct me as I close my eyes. “How far are we going?” Hope just laughs, “Jo, let me surprise you.” We walk for another couple of minutes before she says, “Stay, I’ll tell you when to open your eyes.” I hear some rustling as Hope walks away. A few seconds pass. “Okay, open,” I open my eyes to see Hope holding a sign that says, “Will you go to the dance with me?” and she is holding a bouquet of carnations. My favorite flower. She strung up some lights in the trees around us to light up the area as well. “Hope, yes, of course!” I rush over to her to hug her. “You like it?” I could tell Hope was cautious about her bold choice. “Love it,” she leans up to kiss me, a smile forming on both of our lips. Finally, we can move past this weekend. 

Chapter 15:  
Hope POV-  
Josie’s face lit up so much with my gesture. I hope I can always make her smile like that. “How about we go back to my room? Movie night?” Josie nods her head vigorously making me smile even harder. We walk back towards the school with Josie proudly holding her bouquet and sign with her arm interlocked in mine. We get back to my room and Josie turns to me, “Can I pretty please take a picture of you holding these? I want to send it to Lizzie,” she giggles as she hands me the sign and flowers and pulls out her phone. “Only for you babe,” I stand back and the signature Mikaelson smirk crosses my face. She takes the picture then walks towards me, “Thank you,” she kisses me on the cheek.  
We settle down on my bed to watch a movie but before long both of us are thoroughly distracted. “Hope,” Josie is having trouble speaking as I kiss up and down her neck. “Want to, move to, the shower,” she’s really struggling now. I jump off the bed and pick her up bridle style which elicits a squeal. I continue to kiss her neck as I carry her into the bathroom and shut the door.   
Josie POV-  
“Wow, that was great,” both Hope and I finished and got dried off. Hope smirked at my comment before throwing me some sleep shorts and a t-shirt. “Can I steal another hoodie?” Hope rolls her eyes with a laugh as she throws me one. “Am I ever going to get them back or do I need to create a hoodie fund?” Hope walks over to me placing her hands along my waist and pulling me closer. “Hmm, maybe, you know its relationship rule number one, the girlfriend gets to take your hoodies,” Hope kisses me once more before pulling me back to her bed on top of her. She sits there playing with my fingers for a minute or two.   
“Hope, I can see the smoke coming out of that pretty little head of yours. What are you thinking about?” She glances up at me before continuing to play with my fingers. “I called my Aunt Freya today. She gave me advice for asking you to the dance,” she smirked but kept looking down. I take my hand and lift her chin so she will look at me. “And?” Hope looks back down at my hands. “We also talked about imprinting.” I am quiet for a second as the memory of the Peryton attempting to make Hope feel pain by hurting Lizzie and me pops into my head. Hope can see the pained look on my face as I remember.   
“I am sorry we don’t need to talk about this now,” Hope tries to back out of the conversation. “No, Hope, it is clearly bothering you and successful relationships talk about things, you can tell me whenever you are ready to. I won’t push you but I don’t want you to be overthinking and not talk to me about it,” I see her smile as I reach up and place mt hand on her cheek. She has never had someone be so open and accepting of her. “Aunt Freya said some of the,” she hesitates for a second before continuing, “Behaviors I have been exhibiting are because I imprinted on you.” I look up at her confused. “Like what?” She looks up at me, “Like how my wolf found you in the woods that night. I had no control over it, it had to see you, and how I growled at Penelope and kind of sort of punched a tree breaking it in half.” She says the last part fast and under her breath.   
“I’m sorry, you did what?” I look at her and chuckle. “Did I hear you correctly?” Hope cracks the knuckles in her right hand. I remember, her hand was messed up when she did the crystal visualization teleport. “Why did you punch a tree?” She starts playing with my fingers again as she continues, “Well, you see, I realized that you were gone, your dad had Dorian check for you in your room but you weren’t there. He couldn’t even tell me that you were gone officially he just looked at me with pity. So, I walked forward and split a tree in half breaking a couple of bones in my hand.” My jaw drops. “So, you really split a tree in half? Like timberrrrr,” Hope laughs. “Yep, I am now the official lumberjack of the Salvatore school but I actually can show you later. You can see where my hand cut it in half,” We both laugh as Hope squeezes my hand. “Long story short, my wide range of emotions is being caused by the fact that I haven’t completed the imprint.” She looks up at me knowing what my next question is, “And, how do we do that?” Hope sighs, “I have to bite you.”  
Hope POV-  
Josie handled that news better than I expected. “So, why haven’t you bit me yet?” Josie laughs as she squeezes me hand but adds, “I don’t want you to feel so out of control of your own mind and body.” She smiles at me. “Jo, it’s more than just me biting you. We will be able to communicate with each other in our heads for the rest of our lives and feel if one of us is hurting. Every time I change into wolf, you will feel each of my bones break just as I do.” I hesitate, “I just really want you to consider what this means.” I look down at our intertwined hands as she lifts my chin up again. “In the words of you, “You are stuck with me.” Her face lights up at being able to use my own words against me.   
“Okay Ms. Sass master, can we go to bed now?” Setting up that perimeter had taken a lot out of me then I set up the surprise in the woods. I was exhausted but I wanted to answer any questions Josie had before she slept on it. “Of course,” Josie leaned up and gave me a quick kiss more settling into my side. I reached over and turned off the side lamp. “Goodnight Jo, love you,” Josie’s heartrate was already slowing as she drifted asleep. “I love you too.”

Chapter 16:  
Josie POV-  
I wake up to Hope’s alarm going off next to her. I lightly shake her arm, “Babe, turn that off.” Hope reaches over and grabs her phone, clicking the alarm off. “Do we have to go to class?” Hope yawns. “I want to just stay here with you,” She lays her head on my stomach as I play with her hair. We laid there for a couple more minutes before Hope got up and rolled out of the bed. “Time for class.”   
I watched Hope change into her uniform before sitting up myself. A smile lit up her face as she grabbed my hoodie off her chair and put it on over her uniform. “Come on, Jo, let’s go to your room you need to get dressed. She grabs my hand as I groan and put all my weight into staying on the bed but of course, the tribrid is stronger. “Woah, Hope!” I flew into her arms. “Good morning,” She leans up and gives me a quick kiss before we head to my room.   
We walk in to see Lizzie doing her hair and makeup. “Good morning, lovebirds, surprised to see you two moving,” Lizzie laughs. “Hope dragged me out of bed, “ I watch as Hope lays down on my bed watching me move around my room with a smirk. I grab some clothes and change before we head downstairs to the cafeteria.   
“So, you and Hope Mikaelson,” Penelope walks up to us as we are walking down the hall. We keep going without acknowledging her. She yells down the hall after us, “It’s fine, you’ll come back to me.” A small growl escapes Hope. I give her hand a quick squeeze as I whisper in her ear, “You’re stuck with me, babe, don’t let her get to you.” That helps her calm down a little bit as we walk further away. We eat breakfast and Hope escorts me to my first class.  
Our week continues just like that. I wake up in Hope’s arms, we eat breakfast, she walks me to class, we eat lunch, go back to class, eat dinner, and most nights, we watch a movie and do our homework. We haven’t discussed imprinting again. I am pretty sure she is intentionally not bringing it up but she keeps waking up with wolf eyes and has momentary lapses where she growls at someone who gets a little to close to me. I love how protective she is but I also know she can’t control how strong these emotions are right now.   
Hope POV-  
It is finally Friday, the dance is tomorrow night, and there is a full moon tonight. I wake up to a text from Alaric, “Don’t forget training at 9 am.” Thank god I woke before my alarm. “Jo, babe,” she’s curled up into a little ball at my side. She’s so cute. “I have to go to training with your dad, I’ll be back around 10,” she mumbles some sort of okay before rolling back over. I grab my water and leave walking towards the deck by the pond.   
I show up and see Alaric waiting. “I’m glad you texted me or I wouldn’t be here right now.” I am still trying to wake up to function properly so I don’t get punched. “Figured you could use training today, full moon and all,” he puts wraps on his hands before we start. “Game on.” And we start sparring.   
We’d been sparring for probably twenty minutes when I finally asked, “What would you say if I told you, I imprinted on your daughter,” his face doesn’t hide his emotions well. “Um,” he ducks as I swing for his head, “I can’t say I’m happy about it,” he hesitates,” but this is between you and Josie. I did hear that you have been growling at a couple of my students though.” He laughs as he blocks my kick. “They deserved it,” I growl back. “Something tells me you haven’t completed the imprint since you keep having these, let’s call them incidents,” Alaric leans too far into a punch and loses his balance giving me the advantage. I grab his arm and twist him into a choke hold before he taps my arm.   
“I told Josie that it is up to her. I don’t want to rush her since this is kind of a big deal.” Alaric grabs his water and takes a sip before answering. “I think that is the smartest move. If Josie is okay with it, you have my blessing.” I look down at my watch and see it is 10:05, “I got to go! Thank you Dr. Saltman!” I run off back towards the school.   
I run all the way up to my room I have 25 minutes till class starts. Josie is sitting on my bed waiting for me when I return. “How was training?” She must have gone to her room to get clothes because she is already dressed. “Good, good,” I hop in the shower for a quick 5 minute shower before changing and dragging Josie downstairs. She gives me a quick peck on the cheek before we split to go to classes. I just barely make it in the door, but I have a huge smile on my face from seeing Josie. 

Chapter 17:  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I both make it to class but barely. I sit down in my seat and a couple minutes later feel my phone buzz. “Sorry about the late start, lost track of time beating up your dad,” a smile broke out on my face. It didn’t bother me; I was trying to read up on imprinting and the full moon. I know Hope didn’t want to force me into this but I love her. And spending the rest of my life with her sounds like heaven. I text Hope back under the table, “No worries, isn’t there a full moon tonight?” I couldn’t remember how it works for Hope since she can transform at will. “Yep, want to see my wolf when you are sober?” I couldn’t help but smile again. I am definitely going to get caught texting. “Yes, please,” I put my phone down and try to pay attention in class but all I can think about is the first time Hope’s wolf protected me.  
I meet up with Hope after classes to get dinner. “Hey babe,” Hope walks up to me and places her hand on my waist before kissing me. “Ready for tonight?” Hope looks excited to share this night with me. I squeeze her hand. “Yes, of course, maybe I can remember it this time,” we both laugh as we get food and eat. We head up the stairs to my room so I can change out of my uniform before heading outside with Hope. She already changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.   
Hope POV-  
I grab Josie’s hand as we head out of her room and out the back doors of the school. The rest of the wolves have to transform in the basement but since I can transform at will and don’t have to necessarily change, Alaric lets me change into my wolf outside. We step inside the woods line as Josie turns around to give me privacy. “Jo, you have seen me naked,” I laugh as she stays turned around.   
I fold my clothes and put them under the bush like I always do. As soon as I start thinking about it, my bones start to break. It is a lot quicker now than it used to be so it is just a sharp pain then I am my wolf. I turn around to see Josie with her back still towards me.   
Josie POV-  
I am trying to give Hope her privacy to change because I know this is kind of a big deal. Normally wolves can’t control themselves around others, but Hope’s wolf has imprinted so even if I was miles away, she could find me. I feel a slight nudge as Hope rubs her head against the outside of my leg. “Hope,” I kneel as she pushes her head into my chest. I wrap my arms around her head, hugging her. “You are gorgeous.”   
Hope pushes a little too hard and I fall to the ground. She leans forward and licks my entire face from my chin to my forehead. “Really Hope? You had to lick my entire face?” I can’t help but laugh. I stand back up as Hope goes behind me and tries to walk between my legs. “Hope, what are you-“ I stop as she tries it again. “You are too tall to fit between my legs, babe.”  
She tries it once more before she lays down with her legs tucked and whimpers. “What do you want, Hope?” She flips her head up and back. “You want me to climb onto your back?” Hope stands up and her tail wags. I walk over and place my hand on her back as she kneels some. In her wolf form, she stood probably four feet tall. “This is not going to be graceful, Hope,” I laugh to myself as Hope does her best to help me. Finally, I situate myself where I have my arms wrapped around her neck and my legs clutching her back. She looks back to see that I am fully on before she starts to move.  
Hope POV-  
Josie looks like she is situated so I slowly start to stand up. I know she gets motion sick so I hope I don’t end up with throw up in my fur. I start to walk as she gets more comfortable and is looking around as our surroundings pass us. I look back to see her smiling back down at me. Time to take this to the next level.   
I start to run. I am dodging trees and jumping over rocks. I can feel Josie’s grip tighten around my neck. “Hope, stop jumping over things while I am on your back!” she is laughing as she holds on. I run around for a little bit longer before coming up to a fallen tree. I slow down and kneel so Josie can slide off. She looks confused. “Why did we stop here?” She looks over to the tree that is laying on the ground. It clicks, “Wait, is this the tree you punched?” she turns around to look back at me before walking over and seeing exactly where my knuckles cut through the wood. “Remind me not to piss you off,” she looks back at me and laughs. I walk over and nudge her leg letting out a slight whimper.   
Josie POV-  
Hope looks up at me and whimpers. She moves over by the fallen tree and lays down. She lays her head down between her paws with literally the biggest puppy dog eyes so I sit down next to her too. She moves to lay her huge head in my lap. I slowly find myself running my hands through her fur. “I know you can’t respond, but I also know you have avoided talking to me about imprinting all week.” I wait for a response but Hope doesn’t move, her eyes slowly open and close with enjoyment as I continue running my hand through her fur. “I just want you to know,” I pause for a second before continuing,” Hope, I love you, I know everything I am accepting here by letting you bite me.” I pause again as she looks up at me releasing a slight whimper. It feels like we can already communicate without words. Like I understand what she is saying even as a wolf. “I want this, I want you.” I keep rubbing her head looking up at the stars until I start getting tired. “Hey, Hope, can we head back? I’m getting sleepy.” Hope slowly stands up and shakes her entire body making her look fluffier. She kneels and I crawl onto her back again. She picks up speed as we run back towards the school ending our wonderful night.

Chapter 18:  
Hope POV-  
I wake up to the sound of the shower running. I reach over to Josie’s side of the bed to find it empty. The water turns off and a couple of minutes later Josie walks out of my bathroom dressed in one of my favorite shirts and a pair of short denim shorts. She was drying her hair with a towel. “Oh, hey babe, wasn’t trying to wake you,” she sits down in her spot on the bed. I lean over and kiss her thigh before placing my hand on her leg, “Good morning,” I know I have a goofy look on my face seeing my girlfriend wearing my favorite shirt. Josie smiles back down at me. “Last night, was,” she pauses, “amazing.”   
She now understands why running in the woods is my stress reliever. It gets me away from everything. Away from my mind. “I’m glad I could share it with you.” Josie places her hand on top of mine and squeezes. She quickly changes topics, “Can we please talk about imprinting? Why you keep putting off talking about it? I am telling you I want to, I want to be with you Hope,” I look up into her eyes, they are pleading with me for an answer. I haven’t told her that every time I am by her neck, I can hear her pulse and the desire to bite her is hard to fight off. Aunt Freya said that these impulses should lessen once we complete the imprint. “Okay, babe. But on one condition,” Josie looks at me with a confused smile on her face. “I get a picture of you wearing my favorite t-shirt,” I wink at her before she jumps off the bed faster than I expected and starts posing. “You want me to bite you, today?” She grabs my phone and hands it to me. “Yes, so you can’t back out of this again.”   
I open up my camera as Josie poses for me. “There, beautiful,” I hold up my phone for her to see. She smiles at the pictures before kissing me on the cheek, “Time to hold up your end of the bargain.” Josie sits down on the bed next to me and swipes her hair away from her neck. “Jo, I don’t know how quickly the effects will take place.” She rolls her eyes at me. “Hope, you’re stalling, I am ready.” I lift my left hand and place it on the opposite side of her neck. I hesitate slightly before my teeth pop through my gums. I listen for Josie’s heartbeat and it is still steady. She isn’t nervous at all. I run my teeth lightly across her neck sending chills down her body before inserting my teeth.   
Josie POV-  
I am not sure what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t this. This, felt good. Blissful. Hope sucked some blood out for only a couple seconds before retracting her teeth. Her eyes shown golden before returning back to her beautiful blue. Hope sits back looking at me with concern, looking for any signs of regret on my face. “Hope, I am okay,” I reach up to touch the bite mark. “Here, I can give you some of my blood, so it will go away faster.” She doesn’t hesitate before sinking her teeth into her own hand then offers it to me. I take her hand drinking some of the blood from her hand. The bite mark is already starting to close up and look less gruesome.   
“Do you feel any different?” Hope places her hand on my cheek. “Not yet, probably will develop throughout the day. Guess we will have to keep testing it,” I am still smiling. Hopefully, this helps Hope feel more in control of her emotions. “You should probably stay here a little longer before heading back to your room. Lizzie might freak out and come banging on my door if she sees I bit you.” That made Hope grin. My phone buzzes on the table. “Jo, where are you? We need to start getting ready for the dance! I need your help! Don’t make me come get you. I know where you’ve been living,” I look back up at Hope. “I need a hoodie.”  
I head back to my room wearing Hope’s hoodie to cover my neck. I walk in to see Lizzie doing her hair and make-up. “Hey Lizzie, I’m here,” she turns around to see is Hope came back with me. “Okay good, we have to start getting ready, the dance starts in six hours.” I help Lizzie with her hair and makeup before deciding to add some curls to mine. I walk into the bathroom and while Lizzie is preoccupied pull down the hoodie collar to see the bite mark is completely healed.  
Hope POV-  
I am looking in my closet trying to figure out what to wear. Aunt Bex gave me a couple of dresses that I can try on. I just want to look good for Josie. I decide to consult Aunt Freya. “Hey Aunt Freya, have time to help me pick out a dress?” A couple of minutes later Freya was projected into my room. “Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?” Aunt Freya can tell I am nervous. “I am okay, just, I want this night to go well. I have a couple of dresses Aunt Bex brought me so can you tell me which one would be the best? I also,” I turn around to my dresser and grab a small jewelry box. I pull out a silver necklace with the Mikaelson crest on it. “Wow, Hope, that’s gorgeous, she is going to love it. Guess she is family now, since only family wears the crest. Did you finish the imprint?” I place the necklace back in the box. “Yeah, this morning, still no effects though but I guess well see later-“ Ow, I reach my hand up to feel my neck. A small burn mark appears. Freya looks at my neck, “I wonder if Josie just burned her neck.” Guess we are able to feel what each other feels now. The burn starts to disappear, hopefully for Josie too. “Okay, I am going to go try on this dress and you can tell me what you think,” I grab the dress off of my bed and walk into the bathroom to change. I come back out after a minute to show Aunt Freya. “Hope, you look beautiful, and I think Josie will agree.” I turn to look in my body length mirror. Aunt Freya was right, this dress is really pretty. “Okay, so I will wear this. Thank you, Aunt Freya.” I wish I could give her a hug right now. “Always and forever, come visit us soon! And bring Josie,” Aunt Freya waves goodbye before dissipating.  
Josie POV-  
I grab the cream colored dress out of my closet and put it on. I have about two hours before the dance starts, but Hope wants to go eat before we go. “Jo, you look great!” Lizzie is beaming at me. I can’t help but think, “I hope Hope likes it.” I turn around to head back to the bathroom when I hear, “I am sure I will.” I turn around and pop my head back around the corner. “Lizzie, is Hope here?” I know I just heard her. “Nope, just us.” I turn around and head back into the bathroom.  
“Can you hear me, Hope?” I concentrate trying to will the message to get to her. I am not quite sure how the ins and outs of this works. Like if there are distance limitations, but Hope is only a couple of doors down. “Yep, is everything going okay?” I let out a small laugh. We are having a normal conversation with each other all in our heads. “Yeah it is, this is so strange.” I continue trying to put my make-up on. “What is stranger is getting burned without burning myself.” I instinctively reach up to touch where the burn was. Guess that answers that question too. “Sorry about that, dinner in 30 minutes?” I remove my hand from my neck. “See you in thirty.”

Chapter 19:  
Hope POV-  
I hear a knock on the door and a voice in my head, “It’s me.” I smile and turn towards the door as Josie turns the knob and steps into my room. I am pretty sure my jaw dropped to the ground as she stepped into my room holding flowers. “Jo, you look gorgeous, are those for me?” I close the distance and kiss Josie. She nods. “Thank you,” I can’t say that anyone has ever gotten me flowers before. I turn around to go put these in a vase as I can feel Josie’s eyes on me. “Hope, that dress is,” her mouth hangs open, “just wow.” I turn around with a huge smile on my face. She makes me so happy.   
“Are you ready to head downstairs?” Josie sits down on the edge of my bed as I place the vase of flowers by the window. “In one second, I have something for you,” Josie is quiet, I caught her by surprise. I walk over to my dresser and pull out the small jewelry box. Josie sticks her hand out to take the box from me. She opens the box to see my family crest. “Hope,” no words escape her mouth. “Want help putting it on?” I step forward. Josie stands up and turns around pulling her hair to the side. I lift it over her head and close the clasp. She spins around and wraps me in a huge hug. “Okay, now we can go,” we both are grinning wildly as we walk down to the cafeteria hand in hand.   
Josie POV-  
We finish eating at the cafeteria and throw away our trays before heading towards the gym. We step through the doors to see white lights covering the ceiling. There is a DJ booth set up against the folded up bleachers. “Call You Mine” by The Chainsmokers is playing, one of my favorite songs recently. Hope grabs my hand and starts dragging me to the dance floor knowing this is my favorite song because I play it when I am getting ready in the morning. She grabs my hands and starts spinning me around mouthing along to the lyrics, “Went from one conversation to your lips on mine, And, you said I never regretted the day that I called you mine. Can I call you mine?” I was not expecting this. First, the necklace and now she is dancing with me singing along to the song that reminds me of us. She is only paying attention to me. I can feel her happiness radiating off her creating the biggest smile on my face. We run into MG and Lizzie as they walk out onto the dance floor. We all spend the next couple of hours laughing and dancing.   
It is pretty loud in here but Hope’s voice cuts through my head easily. “Hey Jo, I’m thirsty, come get a drink with me?” I nod back as she grabs my hands pulling me away from MG and Lizzie. She leans in by my ear and whispers, “You look so pretty, Jo.” I can’t help but blush, “Thanks, babe” I wrap my arm around her waist as we walk over to the drink table. “Your dad, one o’clock, headed this way,” I look to Hope to see she didn’t move her mouth, she was sipping her drink. “Hey Josie, Hope, how has your night been?” Dad grabs a drink before looking down and seeing the Mikaelson crest necklace around my neck. “Pretty necklace,” Dad looks over at Hope as she nods her head at him. “It has been a fun night dad, lots of dancing.” He smiles back at me before saying, “Enjoy the rest of your night.” He walks off back towards Emma who is standing against the far wall helping him oversee the dance.   
Hope POV-  
It is nearing almost midnight before Josie and I head back upstairs to my room. MG and Lizzie left only a couple of minutes before we did. We get back to my room as our routine kicks in. Josie has a toothbrush in my bathroom and we just keep her sleep clothes under her pillow. It amazes me how quickly I relinquished parts of my room to be called hers.   
I crawl into bed and watch as Josie is moving around the bathroom. She is still swaying her hips back and forth with a song in her head. “What song are you dancing to?” Josie turns to look at me. “The song you were singing to me on the dance floor.” She winks at me as she finishes brushing her teeth. I smile. The lyrics from that song ring true for our relationship. I have never regretted the day that I asked Josie to my by girlfriend or to go to the dance with me. And now, she is wearing my family crest and dancing in my bathroom getting ready to come fall asleep in my arms. I won’t regret the day that I call her mine always and forever.   
Josie finishes in the bathroom and slips into the bed next to me. It is instinctual at this point. She immediately moves to be as close to me as possible. It probably still has to do with the Peryton attack but I am not complaining. I reach over and turn off the lamp. Josie places her head on my shoulder and wraps one leg over mine. “Love you,” she looks up at me waiting for my response, “Love you too, Jo.” Satisfied, she places her hand over my heart feeling it beat. Within a couple of minutes, I hear her breathing begin to slow. I close my eyes and fall asleep to Josie’s heartbeat.   
I hear some noises outside my window but don’t think much of it. I grab my phone and see that it is 2 am. Josie rolls over so her back is against my chest now but her heartbeat didn’t change so I know she isn’t awake. I wrap my arm around her stomach feeling the rise and fall before I am asleep again.   
I open my eyes to see the Peryton man looking down at me with his hand covering my mouth. “Night night, Hope Mikaelson.” A syringe plunges into the side of my neck as his face disappears into the blackness. 

Chapter 20:  
Josie POV-  
I roll over to find Hope when I am waking up, but I do not feel her next to me. I sit up rather quickly. Her phone is still on the table, so I reach over to check it. No messages from dad to train. Her shoes are still by the door. I try to talk to her in my head. “Hope? Where’d you go?” No response. I get dressed as quickly as I can, slipping Hope’s hoodie over my head as I leave her room.  
I walk straight to Dad’s office, if anyone knows where she is, he does. Maybe she is running as her wolf, maybe we can’t communicate when she is a wolf still? I need to calm down everything is fine. I knock on his door to hear, “Come in.” “Hey Jo, I am surprised to see you up so early.” I look at the clock on the wall to see it is about 8 am. “Dad, I can’t find Hope. We finished the imprint, and she isn’t responding in my head.” That caught his attention. Dad stands up and walks around his deck before grabbing his crossbow. “Go get Lizzie, MG, Kaleb, Penelope, and Raf.”   
I am practically sprinting now as I run to each of their rooms to wake them. “Hope is missing, we need help.” I am trying to keep my voice steady but my fear is slowly beginning to take control. As I finally make it back to my room, I know Lizzie is going to be able to see that I am freaking out. “Lizzie, Hope is missing please come help us find her.” My voice cracks on the last word. Lizzie jumps out of bed and gets dressed. All three boys immediately get dressed after I leave their rooms and meet Lizzie and me downstairs. Raf grabbed Penelope for me. “Dad, I got them,” I walk over to see Dad talking to Dorian and Emma.  
“MG, Emma, and Lizzie, go check out by the garden. Kaleb, Penelope, and Dorian head towards the woods and the Old Mill. Raf, you come with me and Josie. Let’s go now, look for any signs of where Hope went. Call me if you find anything.” I can tell Dad is trying to be strong too but Hope is like a daughter to him.  
Raf, Dad, and I head towards the back corner of the school plot of land. I reach up to see if I can feel the barrier anymore. I don’t. “Dad, the barrier is down. I can’t even feel a trace of it. What does that mean?” Dad really needs to learn to hide his feelings better on his face. “Means that it has probably been down at least a full day.” We have been searching for probably an hour before we get a call from Emma.   
Alaric POV-  
“Rick, she’s gone. I just found a ton of feathers which I suspect to be from the Peryton transforming from man to hybrid to carry Hope. And that spell we cast, was strong. He must have a powerful witch on his side who was able to take it down. I think we need to give Freya a call.” I sigh. This is not the news I wanted. This is not the news I want to tell Josie. I still have Emma on the phone. “Alright, call Dorian and Kaleb and bring them back with you. Meet me in my office.” The phone hangs up. Josie and Raf are still walking along where the barrier was so I pull out my phone. It picks up after two rings. “Freya, yeah it’s Ric. We have a problem.”   
I get off the phone with Freya after a couple of minutes right as Raf and Josie walk back over to me. “Dad?” Josie looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “We are going to head back to my office. I just talked to Freya and she is getting on a plane right now.” Josie nods her head to show she heard me but no words come out of her mouth.   
Josie POV-  
The three of us walk back in silence as we head towards Dad’s office. I try to talk to Hope again in my head. No response. Why isn’t she responding? I haven’t felt any pain yet, so she at least isn’t hurting right now. I need to remain helpful; I can’t let myself get emotional if I want to save her.   
The eight of us stand in Dad’s office surrounding his desk staring at him. Looking for answers. “So, here is what we know. The barrier is down that Hope and Emma set up on Tuesday. Emma, Lizzie, and MG found feathers that we believe to be from the Peryton,” my heart drops hearing this. The guy who took Lizzie and me took Hope? While we were sleeping? Why did it not wake me up? I curl my hands into fists at my side to try and prevent the imminent tears from starting. Dad’s voice cuts back through my thoughts. “So right now, Freya is on her way here. Dorian and I are going to start research. We will keep everyone posted but for now, go get some food, probably pack a small overnight bag.”  
I can’t believe this is happening. This can’t be real. Our night was so magical last night. Now, she gets taken in her sleep. We all turn to leave the office to go get ready when I hear it flood my head, “Jo? Where am I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.


	3. Changes

Chapter 21:  
Josie POV-  
“Oh my god, Hope, can you hear me?” I will my message to reach her. I look up to see Dad looking at me with a confused look. “Dad, Hope just spoke to me.” He turns around quickly to pull out a pen and paper from his desk. “Yeah, I can hear you, do you know where I am?” Tears flood my eyes. Hope is just as clueless as us. “No, we don’t, we think the Peryton took you last night.” Dad looks up at me, “What is she saying?” I sit down in the chair across from him. Everyone else has left the room already.   
“She said she doesn’t know what happened or where she is.” Dad nods his head. “Just keep talking to her, I am sure she is scanning her surroundings but ask what the room looks like, smells like, what she can hear, anything could be useful.” I hear Hope’s voice again, “Dammit, I remember hearing something outside the window and didn’t think anything of it. Are you okay?” I can hear the concern in her voice even as she speaks to me in my head. She was the one taken but she is asking if I am okay. “I am okay, Hope, Dad is asking you to relay what your surroundings look like. Anything that might help us find you.” Hope is quiet for a second.   
Hope POV-  
Josie is asking for my surroundings. “Um, looks like I am in a basement, carpeted floors, kind of chilly down here. Two small windows looking outside but I am facing away from them. Wooden stairs leading up to the main floor. I can hear people walking above me.” Shit, someone is coming downstairs. “Jo, someone is coming, I will try to voice what they are saying to you.” I wait for her response as the Peryton climbs down the last couple of steps. “Okay, we are ready, Hope.”   
“Well, well, well, looks like we finally caught the infamous Hope Mikaelson. Long time no see,” he snickers as he walks over to stand in front of where I am bound. He continues, “You know, I wasn’t expecting you to be so bonded to that twin. Did you complete the imprint yet?” He walks a little closer placing his hands on my forearms. My arms are bound to the chair with wolfsbane rope and magical cuffs to prevent me from doing magic. I know he is trying to get a response out of me, but if I tug against the ropes, Josie will feel it too. I look up at him, “What do you want?”   
Of course, he starts monologuing. “Since you asked so nicely,” he sneers at me before lifting my hands to put resistance on the ropes which begins to burn. I grit my teeth but it hurts worse knowing Josie is feeling this too. “Your father years and years ago decided to come wreak havoc on my small little town out in the middle of nowhere. He fed on everyone before ripping every single person’s heart out of their chest, a bloody massacre.” The Peryton lets go of my arms but then proceeds to thrust his hand into my chest grabbing ahold of my heart. It knocks the breath out of me immediately. I lock my hands onto the chair attempting to ground myself, to block out the pain. He continues, “I was in my human form at that time and Klaus did not know I was supernatural. He slaughtered the entire village before his family came and found him.” He pulls his hand back out of my chest. A huge gasp leaves my mouth. “Naturally, I wanted revenge but your poor father died before I could enact it. That was when I found out he had a daughter.”   
I am still recovering from his hand being wrapped around my heart but I continue relaying to Josie. “I was just planning on killing you, but then I saw how you reacted to me holding a knife to that girl’s throat. Touching, really. I realized it would be a lot easier to just take you. You know, instead of you losing just your loved ones, quicker recovery. No, that is too easy, so I gave you a couple of days, you finished the imprint, and now, not only will I be torturing you, but her as well. You are the reason she will feel this pain.” Josie’s voice cuts through my head, “I’ll be okay, Hope, don’t give in to him. Freya is on her way here we will fix this.” Josie’s voice is the only thing keeping me strong. “Now, I don’t want you to be able to keep communicating with your precious little girlfriend, so I will be back later. Sleep well.” He pulls out another syringe and plunges it into my neck. “I love you,” I manage to get out to Josie before darkness surrounds me again.  
Josie POV-  
I look down to see the burns on my arms slowly fading away. My chest still aching from whatever the Peryton did to Hope. Dad is still looking at me concerned because he just witnessed me getting burned and having crazy chest pain. “We will find her, Josie.” I nod my head before walking out of his office.   
I head upstairs to Hope’s room and lay down on her bed, on her side. Tears threaten to overflow my eyes but I wipe them away. I pack a small suitcase with some of my clothes and some of Hope’s. I grab the crystal off the side table and our phones as well. Freya should be here later today. Until then, it is a waiting game.   
My phone buzzes with a message from Dad a couple of hours later, “Freya is here.” I immediately grab my bag and head downstairs. I find Freya and Dad standing inside the main doors. Freya turns to look at me. “You must be Josie, I am Freya,” I walk up to Freya and shake her hand blushing. I know Hope has talked to her aunt quite a bit about me. “Okay, let’s go talk about this in my office.” Dad waves us to follow him.   
When we get into his office, I start to recount everything we know to Freya. My voice is steadier than I was expecting. “So, let me get this straight, the Peryton broke through a heavy duty boundary spell, took Hope without anyone knowing, and now she is tied up in a basement and being tortured.” I nod my head. “Okay, this is going to be a little trickier than I initially thought.”

Chapter 22:  
Josie POV-  
Freya and Dad head to the library to keep doing research on the Peryton. Freya calls Rebecca and Kol to see if they remember when Klaus slaughtered that village. MG walks into the library holding hands with Lizzie. I am reading a book on imprinting. “Hey Jo, want to come get dinner with us?” Lizzie and MG both are trying to be as sympathetic to the situation as possible. They also know I will bury everything until it explodes out of me, but I nod my head and follow them.   
We get food and sit down in the cafeteria. I am not super hungry so I end up just pushing my food around my plate while MG and Lizzie make small talk with me. After dinner, I turn to Lizzie, “I am going to go take a walk. I will see you later.” Lizzie opens her mouth like she is about to say something but decides against it. She can tell I need some space.   
I walk out the back doors of the school and don’t realize how far I have walked into the woods until I see the tree that Hope broke in half laying on the ground. The tears start to form and this time I can’t stop them. I sit down with my back against the fallen tree and just let everything out. I tense every muscle in my body letting out a quiet scream of air through my clenched teeth. I pull out my headphones that I placed in my pocket earlier when I was packing. I plug them into my phone and select, “Run to You” by Lea Michele to play. I sit there listening to this song on repeat until I run out of tears. By the time I decide to head back inside, the sky is filled with stars and the moon is overhead.   
I make it back inside the school and head to the library to see if they found anything out while I was gone. I know my eyes must be bloodshot and my face puffy but I don’t care anymore. I step in to see Freya and Dad leaning over the same book. “This might be able to work. We can try it at least.” Freya steps back and turns around with a small jump. “Oh, sorry Josie, didn’t hear you come in.” She walks over to another wall of books before pulling down one covered in dust. “I think we found something that might work, Josie. I already tried a tracking spell on Hope, but she is cloaked. However, we could try a tracking spell on the Peryton using the feathers he left behind. I just need to find the right spell because it is different than,” Freya stops talking. “Got it.”   
Freya starts running around the library grabbing everything that she needs. I sit down in the chair watching as they prepare. Dad runs to his office to grab the feathers. I text Lizzie, “Think we found a spell to track the Peryton, hopefully will give Hope’s location.” It is close to the middle of the night so I don’t expect an immediate response. A couple of seconds later my phone buzzes, “Be right down.”  
They have everything set up to start the spell. Lizzie walks in and sits down in the chair next to me. She reaches over and grabs my hand holding it tight. Freya is getting ready to recite the spell when Hope’s voice cuts through my head, “Josie, I am so sorry, this is going to hurt, I love you, I am so sorry,” Immediately I feel a gut wrenching pain rip through my stomach as I screech out in pain. I can hear Hope screaming out in pain in my head, too.   
“Josie?” Freya runs over to me placing her hand on my knee. “Josie talk to me what is going on?” I fall out of the chair clutching my stomach as I writhe in pain.  
Lizzie POV-  
Freya is about to start the spell when Josie grabs my hand really tight and calls out in pain. “Josie?” Freya runs over to her. “Josie talk to me what is going on?” Josie falls out of the chair letting go of my hand and starts to roll around on the floor screaming in pain. Freya places her hands on Josie’s side and starts mumbling to herself. “Dad, dad, what is happening?” I look up at Dad. It hurts me to see Josie in this much pain. Dad looks over to me. “Hope imprinted on Josie, so they can communicate to each other and feel each other’s pain. Hope is probably being tortured again.” It takes a second for me to process this. “Wait, again?”  
Freya finishes mumbling right as Josie stops screaming. She is slowly rocking back and forth on the ground still holding her stomach. “There, I decreased the pain level Josie is experiencing for now, but I can’t help Hope’s pain.” Freya lets out a deep breath. We all know that Hope isn’t experiencing the relief that Josie is feeling. “Josie, did Hope say anything?” I sit down next to Josie placing her head in my lap and slowly stroking her hair. It takes a couple of minutes but Josie eventually speaks. “She, she started apologizing saying that this was going to hurt, then the pain.” Josie reaches up pressing both hands against her forehead. ”I can still hear her crying out in pain right now in my head.” She trails off. “Their bond is strong, that is partially why it effects each of them so much.” Freya stands back up.   
Josie looks up at Freya, “Go do the spell, please, just find Hope,” Josie’s eyes roll to the back of her before blacking out in my arms from the spell Freya used to lessen her pain. I sit there still holding her as Freya walks back over to the table. She picks up a feather and starts reciting the spell. All of us watch her intently as the small pool of blood begins to move on the map. We are all quiet waiting for the blood to stop and circle a location. Freya starts to shake her head confused. “It says, it says they are in Mystic Falls.”

Chapter 23:  
Alaric POV-  
“Lizzie, go get Kaleb, MG, and Penelope, now. We need to head to Mystic Falls.” MG arrives first. “MG, can you carry Josie and put her in Hope’s room?” He kneels down to pick up Josie. “No problem, Dr. S.” Penelope walks in next followed by Kaleb and Raf. MG walks in with Lizzie a couple of seconds later. “Okay, here is the plan.”  
Emma agrees to stay with Josie to help keep her pain levels low while we go get Hope. Freya, Lizzie, Penelope, MG, Kaleb, Raf, Dorian and I pile into my car. Freya rigs up a magical compass that is connected to Hope. As soon as we are within 100 yards of her, it will begin to point us in the right direction. We just need to get close enough.   
Mystic Falls is only a couple of miles down the road but it is nearing 3 am and everyone is tired so no one talks. I head to the center of town before parking by the water fountain. “I think we are picking something up,” Freya starts to walk around following the compass. “There, the arrow is staying in one direction, this way.” We all start to follow Freya walking towards the north part of town. We finally arrive at what looks like an abandoned house, secluded from all of the others. I look over to see the arrow spinning in a circle, fast. “This is it.”   
Hope POV-  
I wake up with my head laying on my shoulder. My stomach is still recovering from the sword that the Peryton inserted and then twisted into my stomach over and over again until I blacked out from the pain. “Jo?” No response. I lift my head and look around to see that there are still stars in the sky. I hear movement up above me again. No, no, no, not again. The Peryton opens the basement door and descends the steps.   
“Ready for more?” I don’t respond. “Think your girlfriend is ready for more?” That sets me over the edge. The man starts to walk back and forth in front of me. “What should we try this time? Fire? Waterboarding? I could carry you high up into the sky and drop you? So many options.” I try to control my breathing.   
The Peryton turns around and says, “I think we will try this.” I watch as he begins to transform into his true form. The hybrid is huge, body of a male stag and huge wings each 6 feet long like a bird. It slowly begins to walk over to me cocking its’ head. At least it can’t talk in this form. It begins to hover in the air before swinging its talons forward slicing them across my chest and arms.   
Josie POV-  
I wake up to my arms and chest searing with pain. I grit my teeth and grab ahold of the sheets as Emma comes over to help me. We lift up my shirt to see four red lines across my stomach and four more on each arm. My skin wasn’t actually sliced. I bet Hope’s was. “Emma, help, please,” I close my eyes trying not to cry out again. Emma sets both hands on my arm and starts to mumble the spell Freya taught her. “Hope, it is going to be okay, Dad is on his way,” I will my message to get to her before she blacks out again. “I love you, Jo, I promise, you will see me again.” Tears well up in my eyes as I pass out again from the pain spell.  
Hope POV-  
I can feel my heartbeat in my wounds. They are closing but slower than I would like. The Peryton starts walking back towards me for round two. I am floating in and out of consciousness as blood pools out of my body. I open my eyes briefly to see his talons slice across my chest once more. I can feel the pain, but it feels like it is far away. I feel almost numb to it. My eyes open a couple of seconds later to see the Peryton walking back up the stairs. My head rolls to my shoulder as I lose consciousness again.  
Alaric POV-  
I start motioning to everyone around me. We have the same game plan as last time except Dorian brought the blessed dagger for us to stab the Peryton’s shadow with. As long as he is in his true form his shadow will be available for us to kill. I hold up my hands and countdown from three. “3, 2, 1,” Raf busts down the door as Kaleb and MG vamp inside. Raf runs around back to catch any stragglers. This time we have Penelope and Lizzie as well. They follow Dorian and me inside after a couple of seconds.   
“We need to find the witch who helped him, that will be the only way he can escape us.” MG and Lizzie pair off and start checking the left side of the house. Kaleb and Penelope start checking the right side of the house. Dorian and I make sure that the couple of bodies MG and Kaleb killed are actually dead.   
“Clear,” MG and Lizzie run back to the front door. “Clear,” Penelope and Kaleb run in after. “Where is Raf? He should have come in the back door by now.” We all lock eyes before running towards the back of the house. 

Chapter 24:  
Alaric POV-  
I run out the backdoor to see a dead female. “Lizzie, can you see if that was the witch? You should be able to siphon her if she was.” Lizzie leans down and places her hand on the woman’s arm. It glows red. “Yep, it was.” Good, the witch can’t help the Peryton escape now but where is Raf.  
“Dr. Saltzman!” I turn to the left to see Raf come running around the side of the house. “The Peryton, it is flying up above us. It is pissed that I killed his witch.” We need the Peryton’s shadow to show to kill it. Thankfully, the sun is starting to rise now.  
“Everyone spread out. We need this thing to land. Dorian has the dagger to stab the shadow. Penelope and Lizzie, when it lands on the ground, I want you to fire a light beam straight at it. Hopefully, it will disorient it long enough to kill.” Everyone spreads out seeking cover in the surrounding trees. I know it wants Hope and it is not going to leave without her.  
All of us are waiting as patiently as possible when finally, the Peryton begins to descend from the sky. It lands in the empty space between the house and the trees. I nod to Lizzie and Penelope to get ready. I look to my right to see Dorian ready. He is in the perfect spot to run forward and stab the shadow.   
The Peryton lands and stands still for a second, waiting to see if there is movement around him. He goes to take one step forward when Penelope and Lizzie step forward shooting a light beam directly into its’ eyes. The stag grunts as it stumbles backwards a half step. Dorian takes this chance to run forward launching himself towards the shadow stabbing the dagger right into the heart of the shadow.   
We all watch as the Peryton’s wings fall off and the stag runs off into the woods, no longer a revenge seeking monster but a normal deer. I stand up from my hiding spot and run inside. Time to find Hope.  
Hope POV-  
The sun has finally started to rise as sunlight floods through the windows. I hear more movement upstairs and instantly feel my body try to condense on itself. The door to the basement opens and Aunt Freya comes running down the steps. “Hey sweetie.” I look up the stairs to see everyone coming down. Everyone except Josie.   
Dorian hands Freya the blessed dagger to cut the rope tying my arms to the chair. She unlocks the cuffs and helps me to stand up, but Lizzie and Penelope rush to my side to help me walk. Lizzie can see the question I have before I ask it, “Don’t worry, Josie is okay, she is at home in your bed. Freya used a pain reliever spell to dampen her pain but it puts her to sleep.” I sigh in relief at hearing this. I didn’t know how the pain I was experiencing affected Josie.   
We make it out to the car, and I sit in the back seat with Aunt Freya and Lizzie. “Hey kiddo, how are you doing?” She pushes a fallen piece of my hair back behind my ear. “I am doing alright.” Aunt Freya smiles. “Josie will be ecstatic to see you. She has been worried sick.”   
Lizzie helps me slide out of the car but I am able to walk on my own now. I try to talk to Josie, “Hey Jo, I’m back, walking into the school now.” No response. She must still be sleeping. This school has always felt like home but I have never wanted to get back to school more than I did in this moment.   
I get ready to go see Josie when she pops out from around the corner. Tears are streaming down her face as she runs straight to me leaping into my arms. We both just stand there for what feels like forever just holding each other in our arms. Josie pulls back her face so she can look at me. “How are you doing?” I smile. Josie is back in my arms. I can see her. I can touch her. She is mine. “Better now that you are here.” I lean forward and kiss her. Josie starts chuckling, “Okay, we are even now, so no more leaving each other.” I can’t help but smile. “Get a room!” Lizzie yells at us with the biggest smile on her face. MG shoves her shoulder. I kiss Josie once more before we head upstairs for a well-deserved nap.  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I go straight to her room. Hope locks the door behind her as she pulls me into her. I wrap my hands around her waist before retracting them rather quickly. “Wait, how does your chest look now?” I step back. “Josie Saltzman, are you trying to get me out of my clothes?” Hope does her best to put an astonished look on her face before she starts smiling uncontrollably. “It is healing nicely, babe. Almost as good as new.” I step back towards her, “Good,” I smirk before slowly removing her shirt. 

Chapter 25:  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I fell asleep quickly after we both came. We wake up to the sound of a knock on the door. “Who is it?” I run my hand through my hair as Josie rolls back over onto her stomach. Neither one of us has any clothes on and the covers have slipped so I can see Josie’s entire back. “It’s Lizzie. I just wanted to check on Jo, you guys have been in there a while.” I look down to see Josie smiling like crazy as she leans into my shoulder. She kisses it once before getting up. “One second, Lizzie.” Josie starts grabbing clothes off the floor and throwing them at me. I start to pout before I hear Josie in my head. “You know they will be coming right back off in like an hour. Put them on.” Begrudgingly I put the clothes on that Josie threw me.   
Josie winks at me, “Come in, Lizzie.” I sit up in bed so Lizzie can see that I am dressed as well as her sister, but I can’t manage to wipe the smirk off of my face. Lizzie walks into the room and locks eyes with me, “I don’t want to know what you and my sister were doing.” Josie laughs as I throw my hands up in the air acting all innocent. “How are you guys, doing?” Lizzie truly looks concerned for both of us. “We are good, Liz, Hope’s wounds are healing nicely, we were just napping.” I love how Josie answered for us, but I couldn’t help but comment, “Yeah you know, sex makes everything better.” Josie leans over and smacks my leg but not before the damage is done. Lizzie turns bright red. “Okay, well, ignoring that comment, would you like to come downstairs to get food with MG and me?” Josie’s hand was squeezing my leg letting me know it was my turn to respond, appropriately. “Yeah, sure Lizzie.”   
Josie POV-  
I can’t believe Hope said that. Lizzie knows what we were doing. Hope is going to get it later. We followed Lizzie downstairs and sat down at the table. We are greeted by Raf, MG, and Penelope. “Hey guys,” Hope sits down next to Penelope, and I sit next to her. I look down to see Hope placed her hand on my thigh sending chills up my spine. I can’t help but think that this is how normal relationships work. Eating food with friends talking about normal things, but I think the “rescue missions” have really brought us all closer. I turn to my right to see Hope talking to Penelope quietly.   
Hope POV-  
I sat down next to Penelope so I could talk to her real quick. When everyone else was talking about plans for Christmas I leaned over towards Penelope. “Hey, I just wanted to thank you for helping to save me. You definitely didn’t have to and I just wanted to say I really appreciate it.” Penelope smiles back at me. “Of course, Hope, and you make Josie really happy, I haven’t ever seen her beam that much ever, even when we dated.” I can’t help but smile at her comment. “Thank you, Penelope.” I turn my head to join back in the table conversation but hear Penelope make one more comment. “Hurt her, and you are dead.” I laugh. I have been receiving those threats by all of Josie’s close friends.   
We all finish eating and I excuse myself from the table dragging Josie with me. “Come on, let’s go lay outside and look at the stars.” Josie giggles as I drag her out of the cafeteria. We make our way outside and find a comfy patch of grass. I lay down first and extend my arm waiting for Josie to join me. She looks down at me for a second too long. “What’s wrong, Jo?” I grab her hand as she sits down next to me. “What were you talking to Penelope about?” I start to laugh, “Is my girlfriend, getting jealous?” I make a big show to look surprised, but Josie pushes my shoulder. “No, I just, she’s my ex, and you two have had beef before,” she trails off. I know she didn’t want to bring this up but like she said successful relationships talk things out. “Jo,” I make sure she is looking at me before I continue, “I was thanking her for helping to save my life. She told me that she had never seen you so happy, even when you two were dating. Then SHE threatened ME saying that if I hurt you, that I am dead.” I can feel Josie let out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Okay, good,” I lay back down on the ground, and Josie joins me.   
We sit in silence looking at the sky above us enjoying this moment. “Hey Jo, what do you think about coming to New Orleans with me for Christmas break?” Josie rolls over with one arm laid across my stomach the other propping herself up. “Really? I’d have to ask dad, but I can’t see him saying no. I’d love to meet your family, Hope. You still have to meet my mom too, though.” Josie winks at me. I can feel my heartbeat jump for a second, and she can feel it too. “Hope Mikaelson, are you scared to meet my mother?” I laugh before I begin to tickle Josie flipping her to her back. I lean over her. “THE Caroline Forbes? I should be scared,” I lean down and kiss Josie. This kiss felt different than all of the others. I could feel Josie smiling into our kiss, she could feel it too. This girl, I’m going to marry her one day.

Chapter 26:  
Hope POV-  
The next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas break went relatively smoothly. Josie and I have had a couple of episodes where one of us will freak out thinking the other is gone again when waking up from a dream. The actual events don’t last long but it affects how we act around each other for the rest of the day, more paranoid of losing each other. This will go away with time but considering the Peryton week from hell just happened six weeks ago, it is still an appropriate reaction.  
Josie’s dad said that she can spend the Christmas break with me after talking it over with Caroline. We ran into him walking down the hallway about a week ago. “Hey girls, come to my office real quick?” I look over at Josie confused. She shrugs her shoulders, neither of us knows why he wants to talk. But our question gets answered quickly when we step into his office and see Caroline. Josie lets go of my hand and rushes over to hug her. “Hey Jo, how are you doing?” She squeezes Josie tightly. “I didn’t know you were coming here! What are you doing here? I thought I wasn’t going to see you until February.” Josie is talking a mile a minute as Caroline waits patiently for a break in her line of questioning to answer.   
“Well, your dad mentioned that you wanted to stay with Hope for the Christmas break and I wanted to meet her before I gave my opinion.” That is when Caroline turns to me. Josie unlatches her arms from her mom and walks back over to me. “Mom, this is Hope,” she pauses. “My girlfriend.” I step forward to shake Caroline’s hand. “Hi Hope,” Caroline smiles at me. I can see why Dad liked her so much; she seems really nice. He wrote about her quite a bit in his old journals. It is weird feeling like I already know a lot about her yet I just met her.   
Dad stands up from his desk. “Shall we go get lunch?” Josie and I nod our heads in agreement. “Great, Josie, can you go get your sister?” Oh god, I am about to be left alone with Josie’s parents. “Sure Dad,” Josie turns around and shuts the office door behind her. “Don’t worry Hope, I’ll be right back.” Josie’s words cut through my mind calming me.  
Alaric POV-  
I intentionally asked Josie to go get her sister so we could talk to Hope alone. I could tell Hope was nervous. She’s a tribrid who is feared by most, but she is afraid of her girlfriend’s parents. It is kind of comical. “So,” Hope tries to alleviate the awkwardness in the room. I turn to her, “So, how are you and Josie doing? Are you both recovering from the incident?” Hope is being careful with her next words. “We are doing really well, every once in a while, one of us will freak out when we wake up from a dream but our relationship is going really well, we are happy.” Caroline smiles hearing this. “I can tell you really care about her. You Mikaelsons and your fascination with this family. You remind me so much of your dad. I am sorry for your lose, Hope.” Hope nods her head not saying much more. I pipe in, “Well, we think it would be great for you and Josie to spend Christmas break together. We know you two could use a break away from school. We already talked to your Aunt Freya, and she said that she is perfectly okay with Josie coming down with you.” I can’t help but smile, “Thanks Dr. Saltzman.” We sit in silence for a couple more seconds. Josie should be back any minute with Lizzie but Hope speaks up again, “Actually, I wanted to ask you guys something?”  
Josie POV-  
I walk back into the room with Lizzie. “Mom? Why are you here?” Lizzie is asking the same questions I was not thirty minutes ago. “Hi sweetie,” Caroline gives Lizzie a big hug. “Well, we were thinking we would go out for lunch the five of us,” Lizzie immediately starts nodding her head yes. “Okay, where to?” The five of us drive to Mystic Falls and eat lunch at the Mystic Grill. We return back to the school with ten minutes to spare. Lizzie and I hug our mom one last time before running to our next class.  
Hope POV-  
Fast forward to current day, Josie and I had our last midterm of the year today. Our flights leave tonight at seven. We are supposed to land at about 9:30 pm New Orleans time. “Are you all packed?” I ask Josie in my head. There is no response for a couple of seconds before I hear Josie respond. “Maybe.” I walk into Josie’s room to see her grabbing clothes out of her dresser. “Hey babe, how did you last final go?” Josie seems frazzled as she moves around her room. “Hey, Jo, come here,” Josie stops what she is doing and walks over to sit next to me on her bed.   
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Josie grabs my hand giving it a quick squeeze. “I might be a little nervous to meet the rest of your family.” I lean forward and give her cheek a kiss. “They are going to love you, Jo, you already met Aunt Freya and she always asks about you when I call her. She asks about you more than me,” That made Josie smile. “Really? She asks about me?” I pull her into a hug, “I’ll be with you the entire time too. So, don’t worry. Do you want us to have a code word you can say through our brain communication if you need a break?” Josie scrunches up her face trying to think of a word. She is so cute; I can’t help but smile. I finally got her parents blessing after agreeing we wouldn’t get married until she graduates high school. I already talked to Aunt Freya, and she is going to help me enact my plan while we are in New Orleans. “Okay, the word is Penguin.” I can’t help but laugh. “Can I ask why Penguin?” I start to chuckle. “Why not, they are cute and cuddly.” I stand up pulling Josie into another hug. “I love you,” Josie leans forward and kisses me, “I love you, too.”

Chapter 27:  
Hope POV-  
Alaric dropped Josie and I off at the airport about two hours before our flight. We make it through security in no time and grab seats by our gate. “Want anything?” I stand up and look down at Josie who is reading something on her phone. “Water, please?” I smile and walk off heading to the little shop that is still in her line of sight. I grab a water for Josie and a soda for me. As I walk up to the cashier, I spot some penguin gummies so I grab those too. “$7.50.” I paid the cashier and walk back over to Josie. She is still reading something on her phone.   
“Babe,” I place my hand on her thigh which grabs her attention. “What are you reading?” Josie clicks off her phone and places her hand on top of mine. “Nothing important, Lizzie just keeps texting me. She just saw me three hours ago, but this is the first time we will be truly apart for an extended period of time.” I squeeze her thigh sending chills up her back. “I brought the crystal so you can real life facetime her if you want while we are in New Orleans." Josie’s face lights up at this. “Thank you,” she leans up and pecks me on the cheek.  
I reach into the grocery bag and hand Josie the water and the gummies. “Hope, where did you find these? They are so cute!” I love that penguin gummies get her all excited. I wonder what her reaction will be when I get on one knee. I need to stop thinking about it in case I on accident say something to her in my head. “I found them in the little store,” Josie doesn’t even wait to get on the plane before ripping open the bag.   
The plane starts boarding and Josie sits in the window seat. I take the middle seat next to her. I grab her hand resting it on her leg. Josie puts in headphones and falls asleep with her head resting against the window. Her hand never lets go of mine, though. I can’t help but look at my beautiful girlfriend sleeping for most of the flight. The pilot comes over the intercom about 30 minutes before we are set to land, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are getting ready to start the descent into New Orleans. It is currently 42 degrees. On behalf of myself and the crew, thank you for flying with us.” The microphone clicks off. I notice Josie starting to stir so I slowly begin to rub circles on her leg with my thumb, our hands still interlocked. Josie lifts her head off the window removing her hand from mine to rub her eyes. I put on the biggest pouty face ever to show her my disapproval of her letting go of my hand. Josie looks over confused. “What?” I look down at my now empty hand and back up to her. She places her hand back in mine. We get off the flight and head to baggage claim. Aunt Freya is there waiting for us. “Hey sweetie,” Aunt Freya gives me a huge hug. She then turns to Josie, “Your turn, family hugs family.” Josie has a huge smile on her face as she hugs Aunt Freya. “I am sure you both are tired so let’s head to the house.”   
We arrive at the house after a short drive. Josie’s mouth drops open as we pull in to the driveway. I hear her in my head, “Hope, you didn’t tell me this was a mansion. This place is, wow,” I can’t help but laugh. Aunt Freya looks in the rearview mirror knowing we are communicating silently with each other. “Alright, Josie, I figured you would want to stay in Hope’s room with her but if at any time you get tired of Hope, we have another room you can sleep in.” Aunt Freya winks at Josie who starts giggling, “I think we will be okay, but thank you. If anything, Hope will be sleeping elsewhere.” A small growl releases from my throat in response. Josie squeezes my hand and kisses my cheek. Aunt Freya laughs, “Yep, you will fit in well with this family.”   
Josie’s mouth hangs open again when we step into the main area of the house. “This place is amazing.” Josie slowly turns in place taking it all in. “Josie, the kitchen is over to the right and Hope’s room is up the stairs and to the left. If you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask. Everyone else gets here tomorrow including Keelin and Nik.” This makes me excited; I haven’t seen Nik in months, and he is growing fast. I don’t want to miss it. “Goodnight girls,” Aunt Freya walks off headed towards her room.   
I grab our suitcases and lead the way up the stairs to my room, Josie close on my heels. I open the door to see nothing has changed since I left. Josie instantly starts to move around the room looking at everything. “This room, it is so you.” I laugh. “Well Jo, I hate to break it to you but this is my room.” Josie walks over to me and lightly shoves my shoulder. I set our suitcases down and collapse onto the bed staring at the ceiling where I once shot a fireball on accident. The scorch mark still there on my ceiling.   
I prop myself up on my forearms and watch as Josie checks out different parts of my room. I hop off the bed to get changed when I see Josie kneel down. She’s looking at some of my old drawings. “Babe, we are going to be here two weeks, you have a lot of time to overanalyze my room in the coming days. But right now, I am exhausted, I did not sleep on the plane like someone I know.” Josie stands back up and wraps her arms around my waist. “Bedtime already?” I nod my head. “Bedtime.” We both change into sleep clothes and crawl under the covers. “Even your bedding screams ‘Hope’.” I turn over to see Josie closely inspecting the comforter. “You know what else screams my name?” Josie looks confused. “You.” I get an instant reaction, “Hey! It doesn’t happen every time!” I nod in agreement. “Yeah I know only happens if I do my job correctly.” Josie pushes her head into my chest. “I don’t like you,” she mumbles into my neck. I turn off the light before wrapping my arms around her. “I love you too.”

Chapter 28:  
Hope POV-  
I open my eyes to see the sun filtering through the window. Josie is laying with her back to me curled up into a ball. I grab a sheet of paper and write a note leaving it by her head. “Hey Jo, I am downstairs, see you soon.” I don’t want her to freak out when she wakes up but I want to talk to Aunt Freya.  
I slip out my door carefully closing it behind me. I make my way down the stairs and find myself wandering into the kitchen. “Hey kiddo, how did you sleep, is Josie still sleeping?” I nod my head, “Yeah, I slept pretty good. Jo is still asleep.” I pull out a bar stool and sit down running my hands through my hair trying to wake up. Aunt Freya places a cup of coffee in front of me. “Thank you.” Aunt Freya lets me sip my coffee before talking anymore.   
“The rest of the family should get here soon. Davina and Kol are driving down as well as Rebecca and Marcel. Keelin and Nik are driving over from our house now. I think they will get here first. I know they are all excited to meet Josie. When are you planning on?” Aunt Freya trails off knowing that I know what she is asking. “I want to take Josie by the Bayou, maybe take her running, then sit on the dock and do it there. I just haven’t decided what day. Maybe tomorrow? The first time we really hung out, she was drunk and she wandered into the woods when I was a wolf. My wolf ran towards her and Josie fell asleep on me before Lizzie found her. I just want to remind her of that first time.” Aunt Freya nods her head. “That is a really cute story, Hope. And your wolf didn’t have any aggression towards her? That is amazing. Keelin has told me plenty of stories where the wolf is aggressive to even family member, I have only heard one story that played out like yours. I hear the door to my room open as someone starts to head down the stairs so I motion to Aunt Freya to stop talking.   
“Hey Jo, how did you sleep? Want some coffee?” Josie walks over wrapping her arms around my shoulders and places her head on top of mine. “I would love coffee.” Aunt Freya turns around and pours Josie a cup, as she sits down in a barstool next to me. I turn to look at Josie, she looks gorgeous even just stepping out of bed. “Babe, the family is going to get here soon so I just wanted to tell you who all you are going to meet.” Josie nods her head, taking another sip of coffee. I do my best to outline everyone she is going to meet today. How Kol is super sarcastic and will probably poke fun like he always does but how Davina offsets him by being extremely nice and that she keeps him in check. How Marcel and Rebecca finally got together and are enjoying their life together. I then talk about Keelin who is also a wolf and Nik, Freya and Keelin’s son.   
Josie and I head upstairs to change quickly before we hear new voices downstairs. “Alright babe, you ready? Everything is going to be okay.” I squeeze Josie’s hand. “Yes, I’m ready.” I can see her gulp as we head back downstairs, our hands interlocked. We make it down the stairs to see Keelin hugging Freya with Nik in her arms. “Keelin, this is Josie,” I step forward taking Nik from her arms. “Hi Josie, I have heard a lot about you, all good things. From what Freya has told me, Hope imprinted on you and you finished it correct?” Josie nods her head as I bounce Nik on my hip. “Yes, we did, still getting used to having someone else’s voice in my head.” This makes everyone laugh. I turn to Josie so she can meet Nik. He instantly reaches his arms out for Josie to hold him. “Here, babe, this is Nik,” Josie takes Nik from me. He wraps his arms around her neck smiling and giggling like babies do. “Look Freya,” Keelin points to Josie and Nik. “I have never seen him that comfortable with someone new before. You must be extra special, Josie.”   
We all move to the living room as Josie hands Nik back to me. I sit on the couch next to Josie bouncing him on my knee. Keelin is extremely interested in our bond, so she is asking us tons of questions. Josie starts to recount how we found out we could feel each other’s pain when she burned her neck with the curler on accident. And how we started talking to each other in our head.  
We get interrupted by Rebecca and Marcel walking into the living room. “Hey sweetie, how is my favorite niece?” She leans down to give me a hug from behind the couch seeing that I have Nik. “Aunt Bex, this is Josie,” Josie stands up nervously and goes to shake her hand but Aunt Bex pulls her into a hug. It is a good thing Josie doesn’t mind touchy feely. Marcel reaches down placing his hand on my shoulder. “We’ve missed you, kiddo, you should really visit more.”   
The reunion continues as Davina and Kol walk in. “Hey everyone, sorry we are late,” Aunt Davina looks at me,” your uncle didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.” She winks at me before directing her attention to Josie. “You must be Josie, I’m Davina and this is Kol, Hope’s uncle.” Kol looks up at hearing his name and waves at Josie. Everyone sits down in the living room as we pass Nik around. My family wants to hear all about my adventures this semester and my love life with Josie. I can feel Josie relax the more we talk.   
I place my hand on her leg and say in my head,” See, I told you they aren’t bad, they just have never seen me in a relationship so they are curious about how you managed to tame me.” I give her leg a quick squeeze as she places her hand on top of mine, interlocking our fingers. “You were right, and yes, I am curious about the same thing.” I laugh out loud on accident when Freya cuts in to explain my outburst. “They can communicate with each other in their heads. That is what you just witnessed.” That shifts the conversation back to everything the imprint has enabled Josie and me to do.  
Davina pipes into the conversation, “So, I was thinking Keelin, Nik, and I can take Josie into town maybe do some shopping. Explain to her how life is with a Mikaelson.” Davina winks at me, she is trying to get her out of the house for me so I can prep the proposal. Aunt Freya must have warned everyone. I look over at Josie as I give her a questioning look. “Are you okay with this, Jo?” She nods her head “This will be fun, just keep me posted on your day too, okay?” I nod at Josie. Kol looks between Josie and me, “You two are having another quiet conversation dear niece,” Davina reaches over and hits his arm. “Hey!” Josie looks over to Davina with a smile on her face, “That sounds great, I would love to.” And with that we all stand. Josie gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out with Davina, Keelin, and Nik. When we all cannot hear the car any longer Aunt Bex turns to me, “Okay, how can we help?”

Chapter 29:  
Josie POV-  
I hop in the car with Keelin, Davina, and Nik, and we drive to the local mall. I had only been to New Orleans once with mom when I was very little. This is truly a gorgeous area. I can see why Hope still calls it home. We pull into the parking lot and we all pile out of the car.   
“Josie, if you see somewhere you want to stop let us know.” Davina walks over to me and gives me a side hug. “We are so happy you are here.” Hope’s family is so welcoming. We’ve been shopping for a couple of hours when we decide to stop for lunch. As we are sitting down, I feel something slice my finger. I hear Hope immediately, “Oops, sorry babe, sliced my finger on accident.” I chuckle to myself, “What on Earth are you doing? I would like to know if I am about to feel more pain, please.” I am waiting for a response when the waiter walks up to us. “What can I get you to drink?”   
Hope POV-  
I just sliced my finger hanging some lights in the bayou by the lake where we had my mom’s burial service. I look over to Aunt Bex with a panicked look on my face. “Josie, just asked what we are doing that caused me to slice my finger, what do I say?” I start to freak out a little. I don’t want to give away the surprise. “Just say you were cutting vegetables and sliced it.” I nod my head before relaying that message to Josie. “Oh, okay, be careful, I like you with ten fingers.” Phew. “Thanks Aunt Bex.” We continue hanging the lights up.  
I pull out my phone to ask Davina what time they would be home. “I’m thinking 4:30, is that enough time?” I turn to see Marcel, Aunt Bex, and Kol still hanging more lights. “Yep, see you then.” We finish stringing the lights up and head home making sure to grab some vegetables at the store on our way home to follow up my lie with.   
4:30 rolls around quickly. Keelin, Davina, Nik, and Josie stroll into the kitchen to see the cut vegetables on the counter. Josie walks over to me holding a couple of bags. “Did you find anything good, babe?” She nods her head before she responds, “Yep, it was a fun afternoon. Got to hear about how they deal with you Mikaelsons and your wild ways.” Josie winks at me before leaning in to kiss me.   
Aunt Freya walks into the kitchen, now. “Hey guys, we are going to eat a little bit of a late dinner. Maybe around 8?” I nod my head. “If you aren’t too tired, Jo, I’d love to show you some of my favorite spots in New Orleans. “Sure, let me just go put these upstairs.” Josie heads upstairs to put the bags away. I pat my pocket to make sure I still have the ring on me. I look over at Davina as she mouths, “Good Luck,” before Josie returns back downstairs.   
We take Aunt Freya’s car out to the bayou. I make sure to park far enough away that Josie won’t be able to see the lights that I set up. Josie and I climb out of the car and start to walk into the woods. “So, this is the bayou, this is the home of the crescent wolves pack. This is the pack my mom was the alpha of. We also did her burial ceremony here too.” Josie nods her head along listening intently. We are only a couple minute walk away from the dock so this is where I stop. I give her hand a quick squeeze. “Want to go running?”   
I fold my clothes carefully placing them under a bush carefully hiding the bulge in the pocket of my jeans. This will be the first time Josie feels the pain from me transforming. “Ready, Jo?” She nods her head. I do my best to transform fast but it still takes a couple of seconds. I finish and look up to see Josie standing with her eyes closed and fists clenched. I walk over and nudge my head between her legs. “That wasn’t as bad as I was imagining it would be, still painful but not terrible. She leans down and begins to rub my head. I kneel down so she can crawl onto my back. I start running through the familiar woods with Josie holding onto my neck.   
I’ve been running about an hour when I return back to my clothes. Josie slides off my back. I transform back and put my clothes on. Josie walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. “I love doing that with you,” I lean up before kissing her with more passion than normal. It catches her by surprise but she quickly follows suit. I pull my head back for air, “I know, you love riding me,” Josie’s face turns red as she leans back in, “Shut up.” We make out for a couple of minutes but before our clothes come back off, I grab her hand. “I want to show you something.”   
I start walking Josie over towards the dock. I snap my fingers and the lights we hung up earlier turn on. The sun is beginning to set over the water. “Hope, this view is beautiful,” Josie lets go of my hand and walks out to the end of the dock. I carefully reach into my pocket and pull out the small ring box. I kneel down behind her and open the box. “Did you hang these lights-“ Josie turns around to see me on one knee. Her hands cover her mouth as her eyes begin to water.   
“Jo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Since I first met you, I knew you were special. Then you wandered out into the woods and my wolf found you. I knew from that day forward that I was going to marry you one day, so, Josie Saltzman, will you do me the great honor of marrying me?” She can’t even speak. Josie starts nodding her head vigorously before I stand up and slip the ring onto her finger. “I love you,” she leans forward grabbing my face in both of her hands and kisses me, tearing still streaming down her face. “I love you too, Jo, forever and always.”   
We sit on the edge of the deck admiring the view until the sun finally goes down all the way. Josie has her head resting on my shoulder and my hand is resting in her lap. She keeps looking up at the lights up above us. "I wanted to remind you of when I asked you to the dance. I hung the lights and had the sign. I figured the rings could cover for the sign, though." Josie buries her head into my neck, "It is perfect.” I lift Josie’s hand to my mouth and kiss the ring on her finger making her smile wildly. "Are you ready to go?" Josie nods her head. We walk back hand in hand. Josie keeps raising her left hand to look at the ring. “This is beautiful, Hope, you have really good taste, thank you,” she pulls me in once more for a heated kiss before we get back into the car.

Chapter 30:  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I pull into the driveway and I throw the car into park. We head inside to see everyone waiting for us in the living room. Aunt Freya speaks first, “So?” A huge smile breaks out across my face, “She said yes!” Everyone jumps up wanting to see the ring I got Josie. “Welcome to the family, Josie,” Aunt Bex gives Josie a huge hug. “Now, let me see this ring,” Josie lifts her hand to show Aunt Bex. “Damn Hope, that’s my girl, this ring is beautiful.” Davina comes over next to admire the ring with Kol. “Are you trying to out do me, Hope?” Kol shakes his head at me laughing.   
The rest of our trip went smoothly. I took Josie to Rousseau’s and into the town quarter. We ended up going back to the bayou a couple more times too. I ended up having to soundproof my room because I was doing my job every night with Josie. Not that she minded. When it finally came time to leave, it felt like we had been here for weeks, but it was time to return to school.   
Josie POV-  
It was the last day of our trip in New Orleans before we had to fly back to school. I hadn’t told Lizzie about Hope proposing yet, I wanted to show her the ring in person. One thing I kept thinking about was telling my parents. Hope’s family was so accepting. I hope my parents are, too.   
Rebecca, Marcel, Davina, and Kol had already left a couple of days ago. Rebecca told us to come visit more. Everyone gave me a hug before leaving. “Are you guys ready to go?” Freya calls from downstairs. “Be right down!” Hope and I are just finishing packing. We head down the stairs to see Freya, Keelin, and Nik waiting for us. “We’re ready.” Hope grabs our suitcases and heads out to the car with Freya. “Thank you for visiting us, Josie, we really loved having you here. You are always welcome here. And, if you ever have any questions about your bond with Hope or her wolf, feel free to reach out to Freya or me.” I step forward to hug Keelin. “Thank you, for everything.” I lean down, “Goodbye Nik, you be good, and stop growing,” Keelin chuckles. “You better get going, have a safe flight back.” I head outside to see Freya and Hope hugging.   
We all get into the car and Freya drives us to the airport. We hop out of the car and Freya jumps out to give me a hug goodbye. She leans into my ear to whisper, “If you need anything, feel free to call me, for anything.” I nod my head in response. “Thank you, Freya.” Hope grabs my hand and we walk inside the airport.  
Security was a breeze, so Hope and I make it to our gate with an hour to spare. We grab some seats, “Hey Hope?” Hope turns towards me. She places her hand on top of mine. “What’s on your mind, beautiful?” Hope looks confused since we just had such a good break. “How are we going to tell my parents that we are engaged?” Hope smiles. “Babe, I got both your dad and Caroline’s blessing before asking you. They just asked that we wait to get married until after you graduate. They knew I was planning on asking you over the break.” Relief washes over me but not for long. “Wait, what about Lizzie?”   
“Yeah, no, I didn’t tell her anything so she might be a little mad she wasn’t in the loop, I’ll keep my distance when you tell her.” Hope gives me hand a quick squeeze. “Oh no, you don’t get to get away that easy. You will be there when I tell her.” Hope curses under her breath. I squeeze her hand back, “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll protect you.” Hope lays her head against mine. “Always and forever.”  
Hope POV-  
The flight back was uneventful, Josie fell asleep with her head on my shoulder again, my hand resting on her leg. This time though, I had her ring to look at. I can’t believe Josie and I are engaged. Alaric is going to be my father in law. Caroline is going to be my mother in law. Lizzie my sister in law. It is crazy to think that my family is expanding.  
Alaric was waiting with the car at the airport for us. “How was the trip?” I crawl into the backseat after Josie, “She said yes,” both of us are beaming as Alaric looks back at us through the rearview mirror. Josie places her hand on the center console to show her dad the ring. “Damn Hope, good job, it is beautiful, Josie.” Alaric puts his attention back on the road. “What did Lizzie say?” Josie and I go quiet. “We haven’t told her, yet, we are going to when we get home.” Alaric nods his head. “Better tell her soon.”  
We arrive back at the school right around dinner time. “Jo, we should head upstairs and tell Lizzie before anyone else does.” We make our way up the stairs and down the hall to the twins’ room. Josie hesitates slightly before turning the knob and opening the door. “Hey Lizzie, how are-?” She gets cut off by Lizzie engulfing Josie in a hug. “I missed you so much, Jo.” Lizzie takes a step back. “Well,” Josie looks back at me before continuing, “Hope and I have some news we want to share with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.


	4. New Beginnings

Chapter 31:  
Josie POV-  
Lizzie looks concerned. I hold out my hand to show her the ring. “Oh my god, Jo, this is beautiful.” She grabs my hand twisting it to look at the ring more. “So, you two are engaged now? Does that mean,” Lizzie trails off looking at the ground. Hope steps forward, “Lizzie, I won’t be taking her from you. You will still have your sister.” That is what Lizzie wanted to ask. There was silence for a second before Lizzie started rambling to Josie. “Wait, how did Hope propose? Can I help you plan the wedding? When will it be? What about when Hope graduates?” I grab Lizzie’s hand pulling her to my bed for us to sit down. Hope walks over and sits behind me on the bed with her arms wrapped around my waist. I begin to break it down for Lizzie.   
I went over how Hope took us running then how she walked me over to the dock with all the lights hung up. I told her that mom and dad want us to wait until I graduate. I looked to Hope for help answering the other questions. “Can you answer these other ones?” I say to Hope in my head. Hope nods before continuing the explanation for Lizzie. “I will be sticking around after I graduate; I don’t have definite plans yet but we will work it out. And yes, you can help us plan the wedding but it is a year and a half away so don’t go all crazy yet.” Hope gives me waist a squeeze as she winks at Lizzie. All three of us are quiet for a minute.  
“So, I guess my biggest question is, are you moving out of our room to stay in Hope’s full time? Now that you are engaged and everything?” Hope looks to me to answer. “I am going to keep staying with Hope in her room, but no, I won’t be moving all of my stuff out of here. I’d miss you too much to up and leave. Plus, if I need a break from Hope, I’ll still have my room to come back to.” Hope jabs her fingers into my sides making me laugh as a small growl rolls out of her throat. “Gross, get a room,” Lizzie laughs. She can see how happy I am with Hope. “I love you, Jo, and Hope, I guess this means you are my sister in law now?” Hope nods her head with a smug look. “That means you can’t harass me as much.” Lizzie’s face drops. “What? That’s not fair!” Lizzie pouts at Josie but she can’t hold her face for long before she starts to smile. “Fine, but in this negotiation, I get a weekly sleepover and sister time with Josie. No negotiation.” I can’t help but laugh at them fighting over me, “We will make sure that the shared custody is fair.” Hope leans forward kissing my neck once. “Deal,” I hear Hope mumble. Lizzie rolls her eyes, “Deal.”   
Hope POV-  
The beginning of the new semester was drama free. I graduate in just a couple of months, and I still don’t have a plan. But, now, I have my fiancé to think about too. Josie still has another year of school before she graduates.   
“Hope Mikaelson to my office, thank you.” Alaric calls me over the intercom to go to his office a couple of weeks after Christmas break ended. I knock twice then hear a “Come in.” I open the door to see Alaric shuffling around his office. “Hey Hope, sit down.” I sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk before he sits down on his desk in front of me. “Do you have plans for after you graduate?” This question takes me by surprise I was expected there to be a new monster to fight. “Not yet, I just know I want to stay close by because of Josie.” Alaric nods his head slowly. “Well, would you consider working for the school? You can help me fight off any monsters that come this way and maybe you could teach a self defense course. We already know you beat me every time. You would be the most qualified. You can keep living in your room as well.” This would be the perfect job. I can help Alaric fight off monsters and still stay with Josie. “Can I talk this over with Josie before I say yes? I just want to make sure she would be okay with it?” Alaric nods his head. “Yes, I would prefer you talk it over with my daughter before accepting so she doesn’t come banging down my door.” I nod my head laughing. “I’ll talk it over with her tonight then I’ll let you know. Shouldn’t be a problem though.” I stand up and walk out heading back to class.  
“Hey babe, movie night tonight?” I ask Josie in my head. I don’t want to risk pulling out my phone and getting caught. “Sounds good, see you soon.” Perfect, I can talk to her about the job offer tonight. I walk out of my last class to see Josie talking to Penelope in the hallway. I walk forward placing my hands around Josie’s waist and my head on her shoulder. “Hey babe,” I kiss her cheek. Penelope and I are on good terms now. Ever since she helped save my life, we haven’t had any problems. She even admitted that Josie is the happiest with me. “Hey, Penelope I’ll talk to you later, have a good night.” Josie takes me hand interlocking our fingers as we walk away.   
“How were your classes, Jo?” I give her hand a quick squeeze. “Pretty good, I’m just ready for this semester to be over. I am tired of school again.” Josie laughs as I put on a look of disappointment. “You are clearly just ready for me to graduate and leave.” I let go of her hand as we arrive at my room. “Wait, no that’s not why, I don’t want you to go!” Josie runs up to me jumping into my arms as I continue to act sad. “It’s okay, I understand.” I sit down on the edge of my bed with Josie sitting in my lap with her legs wrapped around my back. I drop my head against her chest to try and hide my smile. “Hope, no, that isn’t-“ I start to laugh and look up at her. “You faker!” Josie hits my shoulder before burying her head into my neck. “You suck.”  
I can’t wait any longer to tell her. “Actually, I have some news.” Josie pulls her head back to look at me. “Your dad offered me a job here to help him keep the school safe and maybe teach a self defense class for next year. I just wanted to talk to you about it before accepting.” Josie wraps her hands around my neck. “So, you would get to stay here? And maybe even get to teach me how to beat someone up?” I nod my head. The smile on Josie’s face makes my heart flutter. “Yes, tell dad yes, Hope, this will be perfect.” She leans forward pushing her lips against mine. Josie unwraps her legs from my waist pushing my back onto the bed. She quickly begins to pull her shirt off. I hold up one finger to stop her as Josie pouts sitting on my lap in only her jeans and bra. I grab my phone out of my pocket and pull up Alaric’s contact. “Josie and I talked; I accept the job.” I hit send before throwing my phone to the floor and pulling Josie down to me.

Chapter 32:  
Hope POV-  
The last couple of months of school went by quickly. Graduation Day was finally here. I stand in my room looking at myself wearing the dark blue cap and gown. I have on a black dress underneath. I same one I wore months ago to take Josie to the school dance. That seems like it was years ago that that happened.   
I hear a knock on my door. “Hey babe,” Josie steps into the room. Tears begin to flood her eyes when she sees me in the cap and gown. I walk over and pull her into a huge hug. “Hey, Jo, no crying, this is a happy day.” Josie pulls herself together before stepping back making sure she didn’t smear any make up on the gown. “I just came up here to tell you your family is here. Rebecca, Marcel, Kol, Davina, Freya, Keelin, and Nik. They wanted to say hi before the graduation.” I grab Josie’s hands. “Come on, you’re coming with me.”   
Josie and I walk downstairs to find my family waiting in the cafeteria. “Hey graduate!” They all swarm me with hugs commenting on the cap and gown and how proud they are of me. Josie gets bombarded as well. I see Alaric walk in out of the corner of my eye. “Hope, ceremony is starting soon. You don’t want to be late.” He turns on his heels pretty quickly before rushing away. “Okay, I will see you guys after, go get seats.” I get another round of hugs as Josie steps up and grabs my hand again. “Josie, would you like to sit with us?” Aunt Bex offers. Josie smiles at me giving my hand one more quick squeeze. “I’d love that.” She leans over and kisses my cheek before walking off with my family.  
“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for joining us for this joyous occasion.” Alaric jumps into his huge speech he prepared. Josie and I had proofread it for him so I already know what he was planning on saying. “Without further ado,” Dorian and Emma stood over by a table with our diplomas. Alaric started reading off names.  
I knew my name was coming up soon. “Hope Andrea Michaelson.” I walk up the steps shaking Dorian and Emma’s hands. Alaric gives me a hug instead of shaking my head. He whispers in my ear, “I am so proud of you.” I walk off the stage beaming as I see my family grinning ear to ear. Josie standing right in the middle of my family members. “I love you, Hope,” her voice cuts through all the noise easily in my head. “I love you, too , Jo.”  
“So, where to for lunch, I am starving.” Uncle Kol wraps his arm around Davina’s waist. “Do you ever think about anything other than food?” Davina laughs as Kol tries to think. “Hmm, no.” I unzip the gown and fold it nicely placing it into the back of the car. “Mystic Grill?” I offer. “Works for me!” Kol runs and hops into the front seat as Davina rolls her eyes. I jump into the back seat with Josie. We take two cars over to the restaurant.   
“I can’t believe you are not in high school anymore. What am I going to do without you in my classes?” I place my hand onto Josie’s leg. “Focus on the board instead of me? You might get better grades.” Josie shoves my shoulder. Davina leans over to whisper in Josie’s ear but not quiet enough because I hear her say, “Snarkiness runs in the Mikaelson blood line, they all do it.” Josie giggles. “Good to know.”  
The ceremony took place midday so by the time we all finished our food and headed back towards the school, it was nighttime. I say goodbye to my family before walking back up to my room with Josie. “So, I was thinking,” I sit down on the edge of our bed. “Oh no, never good when you start thinking,” I poke her side as she sits down forcing her to lean into me. “I was thinking, we have all summer. We should go somewhere. Anywhere you want to go.” I place my hand on her leg as Josie places her hand on top of mine. “We could even bring Lizzie and your parents. If you want.” I can tell she is thinking hard.   
“That sounds amazing, Hope, but I don’t know where we should go. Do you have any ideas? I honestly just want to spend as much time with you as possible.” Josie leans her head onto my shoulder. “How about we think on it. Who knows maybe you’ll dream of a place tonight.” I stand up to start getting ready for bed. “Anywhere you want, Jo.” I step into the bathroom to brush my teeth.   
I crawl into bed as Josie joins me immediately curling into me. We sit in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. I feel Josie start to adjust. She pushes herself slightly away from me. “Have you ever been to Oregon?” I nod my head no. “What about there? It would be a new experience for both of us. We could invite mom, dad, and Lizzie, too. We would still get plenty of alone time but that way mom can get to know you better.” That is what she wanted. Something new for both of us to experience. “Oregon, it is.” Josie pushes herself back into me proud of herself for coming up with the idea. I start to hear her heartbeat slowing. “I love you,” I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I love you, too.”

Chapter 33:  
Josie POV-  
My family agreed to do a family trip to Oregon with Hope and me. Hope’s family is paying for the entire trip as her graduation gift. Our plan is to go for about a week. We are going to rent a four bedroom cabin on the water to stay in.  
“Alright, does everyone have everything?” Dad is standing by the front door of the school waiting to receive eye contact from each of us. Hope is standing beside me with her arm wrapped around my waist. It still makes my heart flutter when she does this. I can feel every part of her hand resting along my waist sending chills up my back. The chemistry between us has never faltered.  
We all pile into the car with Dad driving up front with Mom, Hope and I in the middle seat, and Lizzie sprawled out in the back. I put in headphones to try and prevent my motion sickness. Hope keeps her hand interlocked with mine resting on the seat between us.   
We’ve been driving a couple of hours when I hear Hope in my head, “Hey, are you doing okay? I turn my head away from the window to see Hope looking at me with concern in her eyes. “Yeah, I am good, just trying not to throw up.” Hope looks down at our hands still interlocked. She rotates my hand to see the ring she gave me with the biggest smile on my face. “I will never get tired of seeing this ring on your finger.” I lean forward to break the distance between us kissing her on the lips, hard. When we pull away, both of our eyes are radiating lust. “God, I wish we weren’t in a car right now with your family because we would totally be-“ Hope’s thought gets cut short. “What are you two talking about?” Mom turns around to see us both smiling hard after not saying a single word out loud. Our faces turn red. We both answer her at the same time, “Nothing!”   
Hope POV-  
It took us three days to drive from Virginia to Oregon. Each day went the same as the first. If I was driving, Josie sat up front with me, one hand resting on her leg. If Alaric or Caroline was driving, Josie and I were in the middle row, our hands interlocked. This was the first time in months that Josie and I hadn’t had any alone time. Normally, we have privacy in my room with the door locked every night. I also haven’t been able to run. I can feel some pent up energy in me. I will need to go running when we get to Oregon. I know Josie can feel it in me too. Being cooped up in a car is not ideal.   
When we finally arrive at the cabin, we all are exhausted from traveling. I grab Josie’s and my suitcase and head to our room. Alaric and Caroline offered us the master suite since we are the only ones sleeping two to a bed. I set our suitcases up in a corner as Josie walks into the room with our backpacks shutting the door behind us and locking it. “We have some unfinished business to handle from the car ride because you tormented me the entire time.” Josie struts over to me. “I recommend that shirt comes off, now.” I step back quickly hitting the wall by the bathroom. I slowly start take my shirt off never dropping eye contact which makes Josie smirk before yelling, “Race you! Last one undressed is on top!”  
Josie POV-  
Sex with Hope is amazing. Another thing that only gets better the longer we are together or the longer we are apart. I laid there in Hope’s arms enjoying her warmth when I hear Mom call down from the kitchen, knowing better than to walk in on us. “Dinner is ready!” I get ready to yell back down when Hope stops me. She mumbles a spell under her breath. “Sorry, had to desound proof the room.” Hope winks at me as I hop up grabbing the clothes that were strewn around the room. “Coming, Mom!”  
Hope and I do our best to appear normal but we both had the after sex glow currently. Mom locks eyes with me when we walk into the kitchen before looking back down at the plates and smiling. “Josie, Hope, can you set the table?” I grab cups with water as Hope grabs silverware and napkins following me into the dining room of the cabin.  
Dinner was uneventful. We all are still tired from the drive. “Hey, can I take Josie for a run?” Hope looks to Dad for his response. “Yes, where are you going to go?” Hope places her hand on my leg under the table. “I saw some woods when we were driving in earlier. Probably just walk over there and run a little.” Dad nods his head before turning to look at me. “Be careful, make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.” Hope looks over at Dad with a fake hurt expression on her face. “Rude.”  
We head back upstairs after dinner so I can grab a hoodie. “Here,” I look down to see Hope holding a flashlight. “Just in case.” I put it in my pocket before grabbing her hand. We head downstairs and walk out the front door.  
“Okay Jo, turn around.” I can’t help but laugh. “Babe, I just saw you naked not even two hours ago.” Hope places her hands in her pockets. I step forward unsure of why she is acting this way. “What are you thinking about, Hope?” She drops her chin to look at the ground. I rest my hand on her arm. Hope doesn’t say anything though. I finally hear her in my mind. “I don’t want to be able to see the pain in your eyes when I transform. I already dream about you in pain, and, I don’t want to see the real deal.” I take my other hand placing it on her chin forcing her to look at me. “Is that what those nightmares are when you wake up with your wolf eyes and out of breath?” She nods her head.   
“That’s okay, Hope, I’ll turn around.” I step back and turn around giving her privacy. I hear her quickly try to pull off her clothes and place them under a bush, but I feel it as soon as she starts to transform. The pain is bearable but I know what she is talking about. The pain flashes across my face. I look down to feel Hope nudging my leg. I turn around as she pushes her head into my stomach. My arms instinctively wrap around her neck. I look down to see Hope’s tail start wagging. After standing like that for a minute, Hope steps back and kneels down to the ground waiting for me to climb onto her back. Once I wrap my hands around her neck, she takes off running.

Chapter 34:  
Josie POV-  
Hope ran for about two hours with me on her back before we went back to her clothes. I turned around so she could change. After a minute or two, I felt her arms slide around my waist as she places her head on my shoulder. “Thanks for coming out here with me.” Hope whispers this in my ear. I turn around so I can face her. “Always, as long as you aren’t hurdling rocks and trees, I am normally good,” This makes her laugh. “Maybe I do it on purpose so you’ll hold onto me tighter.” Hope winks at me before grabbing my hand so we can walk back to the cabin.  
We get back around 9 o’clock so Dad, Mom, and Lizzie are just watching tv on the couch. “Hey, how was the run?” Dad looks at Hope. “It was wonderful, such nice scenery here.” He nods his head before Mom speaks up. “So, we were talking about what we want to do while we are here in Oregon, any thoughts?” Her eyes look between Hope and me looking for suggestions. “Well, I definitely want to go to the coastline and check it out and maybe we could go crabbing? Apparently, they get really large crab here.” Hope is smiling hard at me. I don’t normally give my opinion this much without Lizzie cutting in. Speaking of Lizzie, “Yeah, that sounds fun to me.” She looks back down at her phone probably texting MG. “Sounds good, well I am going to go to bed, sleep tight everyone.” Mom heads to her room hugging all of us before she goes. Hope looks at me and nods her head back pointing to our room. “Yep, I think Hope and I are going to go to bed too,” with that, I grab Hope’s hand and we walk back to our room.   
“You are so cute when you are confident.” Hope pulls me into our room shutting the door. “It was what you and I talked about wanting to do a couple of weeks ago so I just said that,” Hope grabs my hand pulling me towards her. “Yes, but you didn’t even hesitate to answer your Mom.” Hope leans forward closing the distance. “What is it with you and wolfing out that gets you all turned on? Not that I am complaining,” I manage to say between kisses. Hope leans back, “Jo, you literally ride me.” We both laugh before collapsing onto the bed. “Round two?” Hope winks at me placing her hand on my thigh. “You’re on.”   
Hope POV-  
I woke up to Josie laying completely on top of me, naked. I try not to move but it is hard. I look up to see her start to stir before she rolls off of me which startles her. She opens her eyes in a panic to see me quietly giggling. “Good morning, babe.” Josie blinks her eyes a couple of times trying to wake up. “Good morning,” she scoots closer to me wrapping her arms around my waist. My phone buzzes on the nightstand with a text from Alaric. “Coastline in an hour?” Both her parents know not to walk in. I text back, “Sounds good,” before I wake up Josie completely. “Your family wants to go to the coast in an hour which means you need to get moving.” Josie rolls her head up to look at me before grunting. I kiss her forehead before we start getting ready.  
All five of us pile into the car with Alaric and Caroline up front and Lizzie, Josie, and me in the middle row. “Are we there yet?” Lizzie is already getting annoying. “Couple more minutes.” When we finally pull into a parking lot by the coast, Lizzie jumps out of the car first. I look to Josie and ask her in my head, “Why is she so fired up?” She shrugs her shoulders. “No clue, I’ve been with you the whole time.”   
Each of us did our own thing. Josie and I walked down the beach hand in hand just enjoying the view. Caroline and Alaric were talking to each other with their backs turned away from us and Lizzie was sitting in the sand looking out at the water.   
Alaric POV-  
“Ric, we need to tell the girls eventually. I am running out of leads and they could help us. Hope and Josie are engaged. They should know what is going to happen just a couple of years into them getting married.” I nod my head. “We still have a couple of years. There is still a chance we can stop the merge from happening.” Caroline doesn’t respond. “Stop the merge? What are you talking about?” I hear Hope speak behind us. I turn around to see Josie talking to Lizzie out of ear shot. “Nothing to concern yourself with.” I am hoping she doesn’t question me too much but to no avail. Caroline looks at me with a “you need to tell her” look. Hope continues to glare between Caroline and me. I let out a sigh. “It is a long story.”   
Caroline POV-  
I walk with Hope a little further away from Josie and Lizzie while Ric goes to see how the girls are doing. “The merge is a curse cast on the twins of the Gemini coven. At 22, Josie and Lizzie will have a battle to see who the strongest twin is. Whoever wins, absorbs the other. The winner becomes the new leader of the Gemini Coven. This is the reason I am gone all the time. I am looking for answers to try and find a loophole.” Hope looks pissed. “The girls don’t know, do they?” I shake my head no. “We were trying to avoid it as long as possible to see if we could find a solution.” Hope looks out to the water, the wheels turning in her head. She responds after a couple of seconds.  
“You need to tell them, now, they are old enough that they could help you. I can help you. But I can’t hide this from Josie. She’s my fiancée, the love of my life, Caroline, and you are telling me she could die in a couple of years and she doesn’t even know?” I knew this was what Hope was going to say. “Ric and I will tell them tonight when we get back to the cabin. I am not sure how they are going to respond to this news though so-“ I trail off not sure how to end my sentence. “Be ready for the worst?” I nod my head. Hope doesn’t say another word as she walks back over towards Josie.

Chapter 35:  
Josie POV-  
I look over and see Hope and Mom having a conversation away from us. It looks serious. Lizzie is talking to Dad about random stuff so I keep watching. Hope’s hand is tightening next to her side before she starts to walk back over towards me. “Hey babe,” Hope sits down behind me putting her legs on each side of me. She reaches forward placing her head in my neck. I ask Hope in my head, “What’s wrong?” Hope doesn’t look up at me. “Nothing, just talking to your mom made me miss dad that’s all.” I nod my head in understanding as Hope wraps her arms around my waist.   
We sit like that for a while. Mom comes back over and we all just sit there talking about random stuff. “Alright, I am getting hungry, can we head back and make dinner?” Lizzie is slowly picking at the sand. “Sure honey, are you and Hope ready to leave too?” I look at Hope who nods her head. She hasn’t said much since she sat down with me. “Yeah, we are ready.”  
The drive back seemed to go by faster than the trip to the coast. I sit with my head resting on Hope’s shoulder and our hands interlocked as she looks out the window. Whatever Mom and Hope were talking about really upset her. We get home and Mom sets to work cooking in the kitchen.   
“Dinner is ready!” Mom calls us to come eat. Lizzie jumps up from her seat in the living and runs into the kitchen. “This is really good, Mom, thanks,” Mom nods her head at me as a thanks. No one is saying much. When we finish eating, Mom calls us into the living room.   
Hope sits down on the edge of the couch. I sit down next to her scooched close. She wraps her arm around my waist before Mom starts to talk. “So, girls, your Dad and I have been meaning to talk to you about something.” Lizzie and I glance at each other confused before she continues. Mom looks to Dad to continue. “So, you both know you are from the Gemini Coven. Years and years ago a curse was cast on the twins born to the Gemini Coven. At the age of 22, you two will have to complete the merge.” I can feel Hope tighten her grip on me. “What is the merge, Dad?” Lizzie grabs my hand to hold. “The merge is when you will have to battle each other and whoever wins-“ Dad begins to trail off. “Whoever wins will absorb the loser and become the new leader of the Gemini Coven.” Mom finishes for him.  
“Wait, so you’re telling me that Josie and I will have to fight and whoever is stronger will kill the other?” Lizzie stands up letting go of my hand. A single tear rolls down Lizzie’s check. Hope leans forward placing her head against my shoulder. I hear her in my head, “I am so sorry, Jo.” I don’t know how to react. Lizzie gets up and walks behind the couch as Dad and Mom stand up stepping towards her. “Lizzie, it is going to be okay,” Mom walks over to her as she is squeezing her hands tight.   
Next thing we know, the lights are flickering and Lizzie lets out a blood curdling screech unleashing a magical burst of energy pushing Mom and Dad to the ground. We hear a couple of objects begin to vibrate before they are thrown too. Hope pulls me down to cover me from any flying objects. When Hope lets me sit up, we see that Lizzie is gone.  
“Dammit Caroline, I knew we should have waited!” Dad yells at Mom as they both struggle to get off the ground. “Are you kidding me? We waited too long as it is!” Hope is still holding onto me tight. “You guys go find her; I’ve got Josie.” Mom and Dad go running out the front door to look for Lizzie.  
“Babe?” I still haven’t said a single word. “What are you thinking?” I lean back and collapse into her arms remaining silent. We sit in silence for a minute before Hope starts to talk again. “We will find a loophole. I will find a loophole. I won’t lose you Jo; I promise I will find a solution. We will get our happy ending.” She was doing her best to reassure me but I am still in shock.   
Eventually I sit up, “We should go help look for Lizzie.” I stand up and begin to walk out of the house with Hope trailing shortly after me. “Hey Dr. Saltzman, did you find her?” Hope is holding the phone to her ear. She nods a couple of times before responding. “We will be right there.” Hope ends the call before putting her phone back into her pocket. “She is in the woods by where we went running and she said she will only talk to you. Are you okay with that? I can stay with you or-“ Hope trails off. This is uncharted territory for her. “Yeah, I can talk to her,” we continue walking in silence my hands in my pockets.  
We finally arrive at the woods where Dad told Hope to have us meet them. I see Dad first. “Hope, Josie, thank you for coming. Then I see her. Lizzie is sitting in a ball pressed up against a tree rocking back and forth. There are some leaves floating around her that shouldn’t be. “Jo, she said she will only talk to you.” Mom walks over to us. “Can you?” Mom didn’t finish her sentence. No one is finishing their sentences tonight.   
I nod my head before slowly approaching Lizzie. “Hey Liz, you said you wanted to talk to me?” I sit down directly next to her. I reach over and carefully grab her hand interlocking our fingers. The leaves begin to fall back to the ground. “Jo, what are we going to do?”

Chapter 36:  
Hope POV-  
Caroline, Alaric, and I are standing back giving the girls some privacy. Caroline looks over at me with a concerned look, “Did Josie say anything?” Caroline and Alaric look so hopeful that maybe one of their daughters is handling the news well. “She said maybe five words to me then walked with her hands in her pockets staying a few feet away from me.” It hurt me. I thought for sure she would look to me for comfort. She is my fiancée; we are supposed to handle things together. Caroline and Alaric nod their heads.  
Josie POV-  
“Jo, what are we going to do?” Lizzie looks up at me with tears quietly streaming down her face. “I don’t know, Lizzie, we will find a solution. Neither one of us is going to die.” Lizzie collapses next to me placing her head in my lap. I slowly start stroking her hair. I have always been the one who calms her down when she has an episode. “We are going to figure this out.”  
Hope POV-  
Lizzie just laid down in Josie’s lap. Neither one of them appear to be saying too much. Eventually both of them stand up. They walk over to us with their arms linked. “Both of us are going to go to bed now,” Josie turns to me before adding, “I am going to sleep in Lizzie’s room tonight.” With that, they walk around us and start to head back to the cabin. Alaric turns to me, “Let’s head back, too.”   
We get back to the cabin and Lizzie’s door is shut. I walk into my room and shut the door behind me. I get ready for bed and just lay there staring at the ceiling. Why won’t Josie talk to me? I turn off my side table light and say goodnight to Josie in my head. No response. I roll over and attempt to sleep. I failed.  
I wake up in the morning after having barely slept and reach over to Josie’s side of the bed. It was still empty. I quickly get changed and head downstairs. No twins. I walk into the kitchen and Caroline is standing at the counter sipping her coffee. “Good morning, Hope, did you get any sleep?” I look up at her and she can see that I didn’t. She automatically turns around and gets me a cup of coffee. “Don’t worry, they both will come around.”  
We spent the rest of the trip hanging around the cabin. Most of the time, the girls would stay in Lizzie’s room only coming out for food. The day came for us to drive back to Virginia. We all piled into the car and Josie sat in the back row with Lizzie. The three day drive back felt like it would never end. Both of the girls slept almost the entire drive. I couldn’t help but watch Josie. I didn’t understand why she was pushing me away. I wanted to give her the space she needed but it has been days. I took turns driving with Caroline and Alaric. It was an awkward car drive back with very little said.   
We finally make it back at about seven that night. Josie and Lizzie quickly retreat back up to their room. I drop my suitcase in my room before walking out to the woods. I can’t even make it out to the woods line before I have shred through my clothes immediately turning into my wolf mid jump. I know Josie just felt it but I need to run. I run circles in the woods enclosed in the Salvatore school gate but it isn’t enough. I jump the fence and keep running.  
I eventually jump back over the fence and make my way to the Old Mill to put on some clothes that I keep stored out there for when I shred through mine. I have barely slept in days so instead of changing back into my normal self I curl up into a tight ball and fall asleep on the wooden deck that overlooks the Salvatore School property in the Old Mill almost immediantly.  
Josie POV-  
I wake up to see Lizzie playing on her phone laying in her bed. “Good you are finally up,” Lizzie slides off her bed and comes to sit on mine. I roll to my back so I can look at her. “Jo, we need to talk about why you have basically abandoned Hope.” I roll back over onto my stomach to hopefully stop the conversation. Lizzie doesn’t leave. “Has she changed back yet?” Lizzie saw me wince last night when Hope went for a run but I never felt the pain again.” Lizzie grabs my shoulder forcing me to look at her. “No, I haven’t felt her change back yet,” Lizzie looks concerned. “Jo,” she grabs my hand. “What happened?”  
Lizzie POV-  
I don’t know why Josie has stopped having any contact with Hope. They are literally engaged. “Jo, what happened?” Josie pushes herself up so her back is resting against her bed frame. “When Mom and Dad told us, all I could think about was that Hope could lose me. Just like her parents and her uncle. I don’t want her to lose me. If I push her away maybe that would be for the best. She can move on and my potential death won’t destroy her,” Tears flood Josie’s eyes but she continues at a quieter volume. “Why would she want to marry me if she is not even guaranteed a full life with me?” Josie’s voice is breaking as she speaks. She has expressed no emotions since we found out about the merge. I knew this breakdown was bound to happen.  
“Lizzie, I don’t want Hope to lose me. This way-“ Josie looks down to the ring on her finger. “This way she can be mad and move on. I don’t want to be another person that she opened up to that dies on her.” I nod my head. “Have you talked to Hope about this? You guys are engaged, Jo. I mean, she has a say in this too even if you want to pretend she doesn’t.” I look down to Josie’s hand as she slips off the ring. “Now she doesn’t.”

Chapter 37:  
Hope POV-  
I wake up still in my wolf form. I stand up and stretch before changing back. I grab some clothes I have stashed here and put them on. I walk back into the school to see Caroline and Alaric talking at one of the tables in the cafeteria. “Hey, any news?” Caroline looks up at me. “Actually, I have a lead, would you like to come with me?”   
I head upstairs to pack a small overnight bag. Caroline wants to leave as soon as possible. There is a witch in Maryland that she thinks might be able to help. As I am getting ready to head out the door, I turn back to grab Josie’s hoodie that is laying on my desk chair.  
Caroline and I start driving towards Maryland. It is about four in the afternoon. “So, I didn’t see you come home last night, did you run all night?” Caroline keeps her eyes on the road not pressuring me to answer. I hesitate before answering. “Yeah, then I fell asleep at the Old Mill until I ran into you guys.” Caroline nods her head before asking, “Want to talk about it?”  
I have been holding all of this in for too long. “I just don’t know why she is staying away from me Caroline; I have only tried to be supportive. I didn’t run at the idea of the merge. I want to be with her for the rest of our lives whether that is a couple of years or eternity. I mean I proposed to her! I am trying to let her have her space but this seems like too much.” I stop to take a breath of air. I don’t know why I opened up so quickly to Caroline. I guess Dad liked and trusted her. Maybe that is why.   
Caroline POV-  
Hope stopped talking to take a breath of air. I saw how attached Hope and Josie were to each other. Then Josie learned about the merge and distanced herself. Something doesn’t add up. “There has to be something else going on, Hope. Have you guys talked at all since that night? Nothing happened between you two?” Hope’s head drops to look down at her hands. “No. Nothing happened. I just don’t understand.” We sit in silence for a couple of minutes.  
“When we get back, maybe you should go talk to her. I know she loves you Hope. I see the way she looks at you, you are her world.” I am trying to be supportive of Hope but I am also concerned about Josie. Ric and I both were expecting more of a reaction from her. This is not what we expected to happen.  
Hope and I pull into the driveway of a little house at around 8pm. The witch greets us at the door and quickly ushers us inside. “How can I help you both? Can I get you anything?” The witch starts to walk to the kitchen. “We were wondering if you knew anything about the merge that Gemini Twins have to do when they turn 22.” Hope is standing back behind me as support.   
We left after about an hour. The witch said that she knew of someone who could give us all the answers we wanted. The witch told us everything she knew which wasn’t much more than what I already did. She wrote down a name with an address and told us to contact them for answers. Hope and I checked into a hotel afterwards since we would arrive really late at the school if we left now.   
Josie POV-  
I slip the ring off my finger and place it in the empty space between Lizzie and myself. We both sit there looking at it for a couple of seconds. Lizzie’s mouth is hanging slightly ajar. “Jo, this is a big deal. You can’t just-“ I stand up and move the ring to the top of my dresser.   
“Lizzie, I refuse to put her through that pain again. I can’t. I don’t want her to become a widow at 23.” Lizzie stands up and walks over to me grabbing both of my hands. “If you are sure about this, I support you.” She pulls me in for a hug. Tears start to form again soaking Lizzie’s shoulder. Eventually I pull back. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and get some food.”   
Lizzie and I grab some snacks and bring them back to our room to watch movies. We still have a little over a month before school starts back up. I don’t know how I am going to be able to focus on school knowing that I will be running into Hope a lot.   
We finish watching another movie when I look over to see Lizzie fast asleep in my bed. It was nighttime now. I felt Hope change back a couple of hours ago. I look over to my dresser to see the ring still sitting there. I need to go talk to Hope. I crawl out of bed trying not to wake Lizzie and grab the ring.  
I end up standing in front of her door for what feels like hours. I eventually gather up the courage to knock but don’t hear any movement. I try the handle and find it unlocked. I open the door to see her suitcase from our trip in the corner. Her bed is still made telling me she hasn’t slept in it since we got back. Everything looks normal. I look over to her side table to see her phone charge is not there and her backpack is gone.   
I walk over to her side of the bed and sit on the edge. I start to fiddle with the ring as I sit in her room. This will probably be the last time I am in here. A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my face falling onto my shirt. I stand back up, a huge sigh escaping my lips. I place the ring on her bedside table and stare at what I just did for a second before turning around and walking out.

Chapter 38:  
Caroline POV-  
Hope and I wake up in our hotel room at about 8 am. "Are you ready to go?" Hope nods her head and puts her charger into her backpack. We check out and start the four hour drive back to Virginia. "I'm going to drop you at the school so you can talk to Josie. I'll head to this address after and let you know what I find. Sound good?" Hope looks over at me, "Yeah, keep me posted."  
Hope POV-  
Caroline and I make great time back to the school. I grab my backpack out of the car and say goodbye to Caroline. I head up the stairs towards my room so I can drop my bag before going to see Josie.  
I open my door and can smell that Josie had been here. I wonder if she tried to stop by last night. I set my bag down by my desk and turn to head out of my room when I see it. Josie's ring is sitting on my side table. I pick it up and hold it in my hand. Why did she leave this here? She didn't even want to talk to me? I could feel my anger rising. I set the ring back down on my side table before walking out of my room.  
I step out to see Josie and Lizzie walking down the hall towards the cafeteria. I stop in my tracks. My eyes flash golden but I manage to blink them away. I need to stay calm as best I can. "Josie, why is your ring in my room?"  
Josie POV-  
Lizzie and I are heading downstairs for breakfast when Hope steps out of her room. Her eyes flash golden before the blue comes back. "Josie, why is your ring in my room?" Lizzie turns to look at me, her eyes wide open. "You didn't even talk to her?" Lizzie hastily asks in my ear. Hope was trying to stay calm but her words had bite. "I wanted to talk to you but you weren't there. I think we should end this. End us." I did my best to sound confident. I definitely didn't need tears to start streaming down my face right now. Hope doesn't say anything for a second. "You want to end us? Josie, you have pushed me out of your life and I don't even know why because we haven't spoken to each other in days."  
Hope POV-  
Josie doesn't say anything. So I continue, "Can't you see that you have hurt me? I've done everything I can to support you, Josie, to be there for you! And you back out of this without even talking to me? What happened to forever and always?" My heart rate is through the roof. I can feel it pulsating behind my eyes. I can't help but stumble backwards a step. I place my hand on the wall for balance. My voice barely raises above a whisper, "I'm not enough for you. I'm not enough for anyone." My eyes turn golden and stay that way. I turn around and immediently transform into my wolf shredding though my clothes. I take off at a dead sprint out the back doors of the school.  
Josie POV-  
A small whimper escapes my lips as Hope transforms but she is gone before I open my eyes again. "Jo, are you okay?" Lizzie places a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah," I swallow hard trying not to cry. "Let's go eat."  
Hope POV-  
I burst through the doors and continue sprinting out to the woods. My vision is red with anger. I run as hard and as fast as I can. I am zipping around trees and jumping over rocks. I trip and slam into the side of a tree but keep going. My vision is becoming blurry but I keep running. I have to. If I stop, I don't know what I'll do.  
I make a sharp turn before bolting forward between two trees. It was a close call. I turn back to see my near miss when a tree stops me. I ram into it shoulder first crying out. I hear the crunch before the pain begins to radiate throughout my entire leg and into my back and neck. I try to take a step and fall to the ground. I lay there for a second trying to calm my breathing before tunnel vision turns into a blackout.  
Lizzie POV-  
Josie and I grab some food from the kitchen and bring it to eat in the cafeteria. We are just finishing up when Josie let's out a quick "ow" and starts rubbing her side. We don't think much of it but then Josie falls out of her chair clutching her shoulder. She starts screaming in pain. "Josie, what the hell is going on?" She is clenching her teeth to try and prevent another outburst. "Go, get, Dad," Josie shuts her eyes tight still clutching her shoulder.  
"Dad, Josie's shoulder just erupted in pain while we were eating." Dad jumps from his chair and quickly begins to walk towards the cafeteria with me trailing. "Where is Hope?" I knew where he was going with this. "Josie broke off the engagement and Hope wolfed out running towards the woods." I could hear Dad cursing under his breath.  
Emma wasn't here to help Josie's pain and Hope clearly just did something to her shoulder. "Lizzie, go out to the woods. We need to find Hope, now." I turned around and started running towards the back doors.  
Alaric POV-  
"Josie, sweetie, what happened?" Josie is still clutching her shoulder and laying on the cafeteria floor breathing hard. "My shoulder, Hope must have, god it hurts Dad." She couldn't even complete a sentence. "Lizzie is going to find her right now I'm going to bring you to the infirmary. We can get you some pain meds." I scoop Josie off of the floor and start to carry her.  
Lizzie POV-  
"Hope! Where are you?" I slowed down to a fast walk so that I could look around for Hope. "Hope!" I've been walking fifteen minutes and could finally see the Salvatore gate that outlines the property. I turn to the left and see Hope not moving. "Dammit Hope," I ran over to her kneeling down. I place my hand on her shoulder and immediately regret it for the sound that came out of Hope was ungodly.  
Hope's eyes begin to flutter open after she called out in pain. "Hey Hope, it's Lizzie, can you walk?" She slowly shook her head no. I pull out my phone and call Dad.  
Alaric POV-  
I set Josie in one of the beds and retrieve her some pain meds to hopefully ease her pain. Now we need to find Hope. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. "Hey Lizzie, did you find her?" I talk on the phone for a minute before hanging up. "Did you find her?" Josie mumbles. "Yes, I'll be back. Stay put." I run upstairs to Hope's room and grab a zip up jacket and some pants. Lizzie said she shredded her clothes. I throw them into her backpack and start running towards the woods.

Chapter 39:  
Hope POV-  
I close my eyes trying not to move since every movement hurts. Lizzie sits down next to me and slowly strokes my head like Josie does. Used to anyway. I see Alaric come running out with my backpack in hand. He slows down when he gets closer and kneels next to me. "Hope, I need you to change back so we can get you to the infirmary. I know it's going to hurt but I have some clothes for you to put on. I'll turn around and Lizzie can help you okay?" I nod my head as best I can but let slip a slight whimper. I watch as Alaric hands the backpack to Lizzie. He walks a couple of steps away and turns around giving me privacy.  
"Alright, Hope," Lizzie pulls out the zipper jacket and has it out and ready for me. She locks eyes with me. "It is going to be okay, just change back when you are ready." It takes me a second to prepare myself knowing that everything in my shoulder is about to be rearranged. I nod towards Lizzie and start to think about changing back.  
Lizzie POV-  
I'm holding Hope's jacket up ready for her to change back. I look up to see Dad rocking back and forth on his heels knowing he is about to hear Hope probably cry out in pain. Hope nods at me then all of a sudden she is changing back. The outburst starts as a damaged howl and turns into a full blown human scream. I have never heard Hope cry out like that.  
Hope finishes the transformation and I help her slip her good arm into the jacket. We lay the other side on her damaged shoulder carefully zipping it shut which should prevent her from moving it too much. We get her pants on before telling Dad he can turn around. He helps me put some shoes on her before we carefully lift her off the ground.  
I help support Hope in walking back to the school with Dad leading the way. We make it back shortly but I'm sure it felt like it took forever for Hope. Finally, we walk into the infirmary, and I help Hope lay down on one of the beds.  
Hope POV-  
Lizzie helps me get back to the infirmary and onto the bed. "Hope, we need to take the jacket off so I can get an x-ray, I want to see how bad it is." Dad turns to look at me. "Will you help her again, Lizzie?" I move to the other side of the bed so I can help her rotate to get the jacket off. Dad leaves the room to give me privacy again.  
"Okay, I'm going to unzip then we can lift you up to pull it out from under you." Lizzie is being so helpful. I wonder if she feels bad for me. I don't think she would normally help me this much. Lizzie unzips the jacket and gets ready to help me sit up to pull it out. "Three, two, one."  
I can't help but let out another screech filled with pain as I force my body to sit up allowing Lizzie to remove the jacket. I lay back down against the bed as Lizzie lays a cover over top of me. "Alright, Dad!" Alaric comes back in to arrange the X-ray machine to focus on my shoulder. We ended up buying an x ray machine for the school a couple of years ago to help diagnose breaks since they happen so easily with everyone's supernatural strength. Alaric and Lizzie leave the room to let the X-ray capture a picture.  
They come back in after a couple of minutes. The looks on their face confirm the amount of pain I am in. "Hope, you broke your collarbone in two different places. So, I'm going to put you in a sling to try and prevent you from moving your shoulder too much but it's going to take a little bit for your body to repair the broken bone." I nod my head before laying it back down on the bed. "Can I get something for this pain, Dr. Saltzman?" He nods his head and leaves the room to grab some pain meds.  
Lizzie walks over to my bed and sits down next to me in a chair. We sit in silence until Alaric comes back with the pills. "Thanks." He gives me instructions on when to take them then leaves. "Hope, I'm sorry about everything with Josie." I turn my head to look at her. She sees the pain shoot across my face as I do. "Why are you apologizing? Josie is the one who left me, not you." I return my head back to my pillow. We sit in silence again. "Do you want any food? I can grab you some." Lizzie stands up. "Sure I'll take anything haven't eaten since last night." She gives me a thumbs up before leaving my room.  
Josie POV-  
I hear Hope scream from the room next to me. Every time she moves I keep feeling it but I have enough pain meds in my system to make it manageable. Dad walks into my room to check on me. "Hey Jo, how are you doing?" I honestly am feeling pretty good on these pain meds. "Good Dad." He pulls up a chair next to my bed. "So, do you want to tell me what happened with Hope?"  
I end up recounting everything I told Lizzie yesterday morning. He did a good job of just listening to me and nodding when necessary. "Honey, she loves you and you are leaving her thinking that it would be best for her but you both are hurting." I have tears running down my face. "It is completely up to you, but I think you both need to talk to each other. Even if it is to just give closure to each other. Plus, you can go check on her, she broke her collarbone in two separate places." I nod my head and wipe my eyes with my non injured arm. "I'll come check on you tomorrow morning okay? You probably can go back to your room tomorrow but I will feel better if I know where you are tonight." Dad gets up and walks out the door.

Chapter 40:  
Josie POV-  
It is the middle of the night when I find myself unable to sleep any longer. I crawl out of bed and decide to go check on Hope. I quietly try to open the door and slip inside. She appears to be asleep as I take a seat in the chair next to her bed. I miss her so much. Maybe Dad is right. Hope and I definitely need to talk.  
A tear rolls down my cheek as Hope opens her eyes slowly and sees me. "Hey Jo, why are you crying?" I pushed her away as far as I could and she is still concerned about me. Hope reaches over hanging her left hand off of the bed. I instinctively grab it interlocking our fingers. "Want up here?" Hope nods to the bed and tries to scoot over to make room for me.  
I do my best to crawl up into the bed next to her without causing her pain. It has been almost a full week since we last did this. Hope wraps her arm around my shoulders curling me into her. My head is laying on her good shoulder, my arm draped across her stomach. "We don't need to talk now, Jo, but I would like an explanation eventually." I nod my head. "I missed you, Hope." I tuck my face into her shoulder taking in her scent. This is home. "I missed you too, babe."  
Lizzie POV-  
I walk into Hope's infirmary room with some food in the morning but find Josie and Hope sound asleep cuddling. I am pretty sure this is the first time Josie has slept like this since our parents told us about the merge. I set the food down and leave again.  
Hope POV-  
I wake up and wince slightly when I try to move my right arm. I look down to see I thankfully didn't wake Josie with the movement or the pain. I can't help but watch her. I don't know how long this will last, if she is going to leave me again but I couldn't resist having her stay with me last night.  
Josie starts to move a little bit before yawning and opening her eyes. She looks down at her arm to see she is still curled up laying with me. "Hey babe," the nickname still rolls off of my tongue. "Hey," Josie looks up at me before relaxing her head into my shoulder again.  
"So, can we talk about this?" I am a little impatient. I am here in the infirmary right now because of our fight. Josie reaches over and grabs my right hand careful to not move my shoulder and interlocks our fingers. Josie starts rambling, "I'm so sorry, Hope. When Mom and Dad told us about the merge the only thing I could think about was you. How you could lose me again and I freaked out. I don't want you to lose me like how you lost your parents and your uncle. I don't want you to feel like every time you open up to someone you will lose them." She pauses taking a deep breath. "I thought if I pushed you away myself and if I died in the merge it wouldn't wreck you. That you would be mad at how we ended and that my death wouldn't destroy you. I was scared and I am sorry."  
Josie buries her head back into my shoulder trying to hide the fact that she was crying. "Jo, I love you, and I told your mom this. I am in this for the long haul whether it is a couple of years or eternity. I proposed because I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I don't take that lightly. I imprinted on you, Jo. Whatever happens we can figure it out. I want my life to be with you." Josie lets out a huge sigh. "This week has been terrible without you, I haven't been sleeping, and pushing you away hurt me every time I did it." I move my hand down so it is on her waist. "Can you forgive me, Hope?" She looks up at me, her eyes red and her cheeks puffy from crying. "Forever and Always, babe." Josie moves her head forward enough so we can kiss.  
"I'm sorry I broke my collarbone, it wasn't intentional." I felt like I needed to apologize because I knew we had the bond and that she would feel pain but I still was running reckless. "I deserved it, but, are we good now?" Josie sits up resting with her arm holding herself up.  
"Not quite." I could feel Josie's heart rate increase. "What do you mean?" Her voice cracks a little. "Josie Saltzman, will you marry me?" She lets out a little laugh. "Yes, Hope Mikaelson, always and forever."  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I are good again. I curl back into her with a huge smile on my face. "So, I would just like to point out that YOU said that we can't leave each other any more after the whole Peryton incident. And you broke your own rule. You also said that I have to talk to you when something is on my mind because that is what successful relationships do. But you failed to do so yourself." Hope has a huge smirk on her face. "I'm just saying, you owe me." She pokes my side lightly causing me to scoot up closer to her face. "I think we can come up with an arrangement that works for us both." I lean forward bringing our lips together again.  
Hope pulls away after a couple of minutes. "What's wrong?" I put on a huge pouty face right as Lizzie walks back in to my infirmary room. I hear her in my head, "That's why."  
"Awh, did the lovebirds make up finally?" Lizzie sits down in the chair next to me. "Yes, we did, I need to put that ring back on." Hope is smiling hard as she kisses the top of my head. "Yay! The plans I made for your wedding don't need to be trashed!" All three of us begin to laugh. "Oh Hope, Mom told me to tell you that she'll be home later today and that she might have find a loophole." I look back at Hope confused. "Wait, where did you go the other day?" Hope is still smiling like crazy. "Let's just say, you might have pushed me away but I wasn't done with you." Josie leans back so she can look at me, "I love you." I give her waist a quick squeeze. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.


	5. White Dress

Chapter 41:  
Hope POV-  
I convinced Alaric to let me heal up in my room bed instead of the infirmary bed. Josie stays with me holding my left hand, my right arm is still in the sling. Normally, Josie sleeps on my right side but we have to switch for now.  
I carefully kneel onto Josie's side of the bed collapsing quickly. I watch as Josie gets ready to lay down on my side before she stops. She walks over to my closet and pulls out one of my hoodies slipping it on before laying down next to me on my side of the bed. "Jo, you're forgetting something." She looks up at me confused before she remembers. She rolls out of my arm and reaches over to the side table to grab her ring. I watch as she slips it back on her finger. Finally, she lays back down curling up into my shoulder.  
Josie lets out a huge sigh. "I am so glad that wasn't the last time I was going to be in your room." She places her hand on my heart feeling it beat. "What are you talking about, Jo?" She didn't mention this before. "Well when I came into your room to talk to you, you weren't here. I had the ring in my hand and I set it on your table. I was a little emotional thinking about the fact that it might be the last time I was ever going to be in your room. Your room still smelled like you. I sat right here for a minute before leaving trying to soak in the moment so I wouldn't forget it." I nod my head. "We sure have had a lot of memories in this room."  
We sit there in silence just enjoying each other's company for a while. I can't help but listen to Josie breathing in and out, her hand running through my hair. "Hey Jo, can you grab my laptop so we can watch a movie?" She pushes her head into my good shoulder for a second before pushing herself off my bed. "What do you want to watch?" She reaches into my backpack pulling out my laptop. "I don't care, I just don't like the silence that much." She nods her head acknowledging my comment. Silence reminds me of when she and I couldn't communicate in our heads with each other and when she left me. I always think too much in silence. Josie crawls back into bed next to me. "I've got a better idea."  
She sits up next to me placing her back against my head board. I rest my head against the side of her body, my hand resting on her leg as she opens up my laptop. I watch as she clicks on Spotify. "Whoever finds the best song that relates to us, wins." Tons of songs immediately pop into my head. "You're on."  
Josie POV-  
"Me first!" Hope does her best to take the laptop from me but decides to just let me do the typing. "Okay, look up 'No Boundaries' by Kris Allen." I find the song and hit play. I open up the lyrics so we can follow along. "But you give me one good reason to fight and never walk away. So here I am still holding on." Hope looks up at me smirking. "You don't win that easy."  
I pull up "Love is Fire" by Freya Ridings. "Better risk it all to just let it go it's what I'd never do but if love is fire then I burn for you." Hope and I go back and forth for a while trying to outdo each other finally I find the perfect song to win this.  
"In Your Arms" by X Ambassadors and Illenium. "If I died in your arms it's right where I'm s'pposed to be. You know I'm not afraid as long as you're next to me. So tell me, will you hold me when the curtains close? If I died in your arms it's right where I'm s'pposed to be."  
Hope pushes her face into my hip. "That was a good song but," she stops, "I've got one final song but it's a surprise. Here, help me set the laptop on my leg. I lift the laptop off of my lap and place it on hers. I hear some clicking before the song starts. I recognize it immediately.  
"Think about what you believe in now am I someone you can't live without? 'Cause I know I don't want to live without you." Hope looks up at me knowing she won. "I don't know why I didn't think of this song." It continues playing. "And you said you never regretted the day that I called you mine. Can I call you mine?" I look towards Hope who can't stop giggling. "I never regretted the day that I called you mine, Jo. This song reminds me of the dance. That was such a good night." I look up to her ceiling trying my best to appear frustrated. "Alright, you win. I can't think of anything better." I look down at Hope who is beaming. "Can you make a playlist on my phone of these songs for me, babe?" I grab her phone and start to build the playlist with the songs we each came up with. I title it "She's Mine". Once I am finished, I hit play.  
Hope POV-  
I lean into Josie lifting up her shirt enough to kiss some exposed skin on her waist. "Thank you, Jo." She places my phone back on the side table. "Hope, I'm kind of tired can we take a nap?" I know she hasn't really been sleeping I could tell by the bags under her eyes when I saw her yesterday morning. "Yeah of course," I watch as Josie slides down the bed so she can curl up next to me. Our playlist is quietly playing in the background.  
I open my eyes a little bit later to the sound of a quiet knock on my door. "Come in," I say trying not to wake Josie. If it is Caroline she will be able to hear me with her vamp hearing. She walks in breaking out in a huge smile as she sees Josie sound asleep spooning me.  
"Before I come back to the fact that you are in a sling, I assume the talk went well?" Caroline moves over to sit on the edge of my bed so she can continue to talk to me quietly. "Well the first talk lead to me breaking my collarbone in two different parts. The second talk started with Josie crawling into my infirmary bed in the middle of the night because she missed me. Turns out she was trying to protect me from losing her again. We sorted everything out." Caroline places her hand on my shin which is under the covers, "I'm so glad, Hope." She lets out a deep sigh. "I've got news though, we should probably wake Josie."

Chapter 42:  
Josie POV-  
I fell asleep on Hope listening to our playlist. A little while later I hear Hope in my head. “Hey babe, wake up, your mom is here,” I start to open my eyes yawning as I do. I look over and see Mom. “Hey honey, how are you doing?” She has the biggest smile on her face. She’s sitting on the edge of our bed. “I’m doing good just enjoyed a nap on Hope.” Mom laughs. “I’m glad you guys made up.”  
I sit up and Hope leans her head on my waist. Before mom starts talking I hear her in my head. “I don’t know what she is about to talk about but babe, come to me okay?” Hope looks up at me shooting me a serious look. “I will.” We both look to Mom who is politely waiting for us to finish our silent conversation.   
“I have found a loophole for the merge,” Mom pauses, “You or your sister has to become a heretic using Hope’s blood or the blood of a normal vampire to become a vampire. Essentially, Hope’s blood will enable you to keep you powers as a siphoner and then you become a vampire. Or you can take normal vampire blood and lose your abilities as a siphoner. We also don’t know what this will do to your bond but potentially Hope might inherit your abilities as a siphoner if you go that route.” We both nod our heads in understanding.   
Hope asks what I was thinking, “Why aren’t you talking to Lizzie about this too?” Mom nods her head acknowledging the question. “If this is the route we go, it is giving you immortality. Hope, I know you haven’t activated your vampire side but this could enable you to have eternity together, and you guys are engaged already. Lizzie has not settled on any single individual. If she decides in the future that she wants to become a vampire, that will be her choice to forgo the Gemini Coven powers she will receive if Josie changes.” I look down at Hope trying to gauge how she is feeling about this. Mom keeps talking.  
“The last thing I want to add is, you can’t have kids,” she looks to Hope, “when you have activated your vampire side,” she looks to me, “or when you have become a vampire. So, it also might want to be discussed between the two of you considering the fact that Josie would need to turn before she turns 22 and she is 18 right now.” I nod my head at Mom. We sit in silence for a second before Mom stands up. “I will leave you two to discuss. I’ll be staying here for the rest of the summer as well. So, if you need anything, either of you, come talk to me.” With that Mom leaves the room.   
I place my hand on Hope’s head running my fingers through her hair. “What are you thinking about, Hope?” She looks up at me with a huge smile on her face. “We literally can have our eternity, babe, we can have everything that we want.” She reaches over grabbing my left hand and interlocking it. I lean down and kiss her head. “Yes, we can,” my head is spinning. We could get our forever.   
Hope POV-  
I am so happy. This is the news we needed. “So, I assume you would want to use my blood so you can keep your witch powers?” Josie nods her head. “You just want to be able to siphon.” Josie laughs. “Maybe, I mean you have some of my super healing now. It’s called sharing, babe,” I bury my face into her side again giggling. “So, would I be able to siphon my vampire side for magic?” She looks down at me still running her hands through my hair. I know she is looking for an answer, it isn’t a rhetoric question, “I’m not sure. I bet it’s possible.”  
We both seem to be avoiding the next conversation. “I guess we need to talk about kids.” I look up at Josie. She looks like she is afraid I will bolt. “Hey, I’m here for the long run. I’m not going anywhere. I always thought we would have kids though somewhere down along the line.” Josie nods her head. “How would we have kids though?” This is the part she didn’t like thinking about. I know she wants kids of her own. It is just a little harder for us. “Well, Aunt Freya and Keelin did it. They have new technology where they can combine the DNA from both of our eggs then they implant them in one of us. I actually talked to her about it a while ago because I was curious.” She stops running her hand through my hair for a second.  
“So, we can have kids that are from both of us?” I nod my head and she continues. “So, if I have kids first sometime in the next four years then we can turn me. Your timeline isn’t as rushed though. You could have some after me though? I just don’t know how many you want.” Josie trails off. I know she is trying not to make me feel like I am being forced into this. “I’ve always imagined us having three kids, Jo. Living the typical life but if they are supernatural sending them here to the Salvatore School. Who knows maybe I’ll become the headmaster after your Dad quits.” I smirk at Josie as she leans down to kiss me. We separate before we both get too heated sadly but I am currently crippled in a sling. Only for a couple more days probably. Josie slides down into my bed and lays down on me again, “I love our future life.”

Chapter 43:  
Hope POV-  
The next school year went by quick. I was on the payroll for the Salvatore school. I taught a self defense class two times a week and helped Alaric find monsters or newly turned individuals. Josie and Lizzie are set to graduate next week.  
I roll over to see Josie still fast sleep. It is Saturday so we technically have no where to be. "Hey Jo, want to go spare?" She has drastically improved since she started training with me. "Babe, what time is it?" I look over at the clock. "7:30." She rolls back over and sighs. "Give me ten minutes to get ready."  
This was a pretty normal occurrence. I've had trouble sleeping in the past couple of weeks but I think it is just because we have a lot coming up. Josie rolls out of bed and starts changing rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she walks to the bathroom. She comes back out with a slightly wet face from splashing it with water. "Okay, I'm ready."  
Instead of going to the gym like we usually do, I drag her outside to the woods line. Josie and I put on wraps. We square up, and I let her make the first move. We've been sparring for about thirty minutes when she starts to talk. "So, want to tell me why you are awake this early, again?" Josie punches for my head as I gracefully duck out of the way. "Just thinking about the week, you graduate Thursday then we have the appointment Friday." I kick forward as she blocks down causing me to stumble. "Hope," Josie steps forward raising her hands in peace. "Come here," she grabs my hand and walks me over to the Old Mill.  
We sit down on the top deck that overlooks the school. "What are you worried about? You're not second guessing our decision right? I mean we waited this long. I would have been happy to start trying last year." I shake my head no grabbing her hand. "No, of course not Jo, it's just a lot. I don't like change, and this is going to change things." I look up to see Josie still intently staring at me. "Are you sure?" I nod my head.  
We sit there in silence for a minute. "We haven't really discussed what happens if this works, if you are pregnant and going to the local community college and I still work here. We can't always live here especially not with kids." I lean over resting my head on her shoulder. "Hope, look at me." She forces my head off her shoulder. "Let's start looking for a house, okay? And yes, it will be different but this is us we are talking about. We will be okay. Everything will work out. The worst thing you will have to deal with in all of this is pregnancy mood swings or cravings." This makes me laugh. Josie stands up and extends her hand to me. "Come on, you need a run, let's go."  
Josie POV-  
The rest of the week moves by quickly. I wake up Thursday morning to Hope still asleep. I'm glad she finally could sleep past seven. I slide out of bed and jump into her shower. By the time I get out, Hope is sitting up against her head board. "Today's the big day, I finally get to see you in your cap and gown." Hope is beaming up at me. "By the way, Aunt Freya said she would get here around noon so she will be here for your graduation." I nod my head before dive bombing our bed in just a towel. I land in Hope's lap, she instantly starts to run her hands though my hair. I look up at her, "Hi, babe." Hope leans down to kiss me. "Hi, Jo." We stay like that for a while just talking.  
Hope POV-  
Eventually Josie lets out a heavy sigh as she has to start getting ready for the graduation. We both get up and start getting ready.  
Josie was still in the bathroom doing her hair when Aunt Freya texts me that she is here. "Hey babe, Aunt Freya is here, I'll find you before the ceremony starts, okay?" Josie turns to see me standing by the door. "Okay, be good." She giggles as I walk out the door.  
I walk down the hallway to see Aunt Freya talking to Alaric by the front door. She looks over happy to see me. "Hey kiddo," she engulfs me in a hug. "Where's Josie?" I nod my head back towards my room. "Still getting ready then I think she is going to help Lizzie as well." She nods her head. "Well, can we go get lunch then meet up with her before the ceremony?" I start walking towards the door. "I'm starving."  
Aunt Freya and I sit down at a booth in Mystic Grill. "So, how are you feeling?" Aunt Freya, Keelin, and Caroline are the only ones who know about the appointment tomorrow. "Excited but you know how I am, the change has me freaked out which means less sleep." She grabs my hand across the table. "I know it is scary but it is a good scary. I did the same thing when Keelin got pregnant with Nik. Have you started house hunting yet?" I shake my head no, "I actually wanted to this weekend. I've been looking around online and have a plan to see a couple of houses with a realtor Saturday. Would you be able to stick around to help us?" A smile breaks out on Aunt Freya's face. "I'd love to Hope as long as Josie is okay with me tagging along."  
We finish lunch and head back to the school. "Hey Jo, where are you?" I ask her in my head. "Getting ready to come downstairs. Are you back?" Freya notices that I have my mental conversation face on. "Yep, meet you in the cafeteria?" She waits for me to finish. "See you soon." We start walking to the cafeteria. "Josie is going to meet us down here."  
Aunt Freya and I make small talk until I see her walk into the room. My eyes begin to tear up. "Hope, no crying this is a happy day!" She used my own words against me that I said one year ago. Josie looks gorgeous in her cap and gown. "Hi Freya, how are you?" Aunt Freya stands from her seat and gives Josie a huge hug. "Pretty good, sweetie. I couldn't miss this day. The rest of the family wishes they could be here." My family has done a really good job of supporting not just me but Josie as well.  
We say goodbyes as Freya and I leave Josie to find our seats. Alaric's speech was a little different from when I graduated but similar enough that I tuned most of it out. They started calling names and eventually got close to 'S'. "Josie Saltzman." Aunt Freya and I jump up and start cheering loudly. I do the same thing she did when I graduated. As she starts to walk off the stage I say in my head, "I love you, babe." Josie locks eyes with me as she steps off the stage. "I love you, too."

Chapter 44:  
Hope POV-  
I went out to dinner with Josie and her family after the graduation ceremony finished. Aunt Freya came as well. Once dinner was finished, Josie and I said good nights and we turned to go up to my room.  
I close the door behind us and pull Josie to me. "You looked gorgeous today, babe." Josie blushes and places her head forward on my shoulder resting her face against my neck. We stand there for a second. "Hey, can we go run? Or you can stay here I just need to run a little bit." Josie lifts her head from my neck. "I'll come with you, I need to keep you out of trouble." Josie winks at me as she pulls away to change into sweats. We head outside and end up running about two hours.  
My alarm goes off at 8 am. I reach over and turn it off rolling over to look at Josie. "Ready?" She forces a smile but I know she is nervous. "I'm ready." We get dressed and go downstairs to get into my car. I ended up getting a car a couple of months ago because Alaric and I kept needing to split up on missions and I got tired of running in my human form.  
We don't say much as we drive to the appointment but I keep my hand on her leg our fingers intertwined. We walk inside and check in. "Josie Saltzman." The lady starts typing on her computer. "Please sit down, the doctor will be with you soon."  
Josie and I grab a seat in the waiting room. Her leg is bouncing up and down which I very rarely see happen. I am more calm than she is right now. I turn to look at her, "Babe, take a deep breath." I say in my head. She looks over at me and gives my hand a quick squeeze. "I'm okay, promise." Finally, we get called back to the room.  
"Alright so Josie, we have already combined the DNA from both eggs so today is just the implant. We figured that we will try three eggs but the likelihood of all three implanting is extremely low. If they implant, you will begin to test positive for being pregnant by tomorrow night. If you are ready we will take you into the next room to do it." Josie nods her head in understanding. "Babe, do you want me to stay while they implant the eggs?" I ask in my head. She looks over at me, "Please."  
They take us to the next room and have Josie lay down on the bed. I grab a seat next to her head so I can hold her hand and distract her. She looks up at me, fear in her eyes. "Look Jo, this is going to feel like nothing compared to the pain we have felt. Just keep looking at me. It'll be all over soon." I continue to whisper in her ear, her hand holding mine tight until the doctor is done.  
"Alright, you are all set. We recommend waiting 36 hours to take a pregnancy test. Otherwise, you are good to go." We thank the doctor and walk out to the car. "Are you doing okay, babe?" Josie has been just really quiet. "Yeah, thank you for distracting me. It really helped." A smirk formed on my face. "I know what else can distract you." We both get into the car. Josie looks over at me. "Doc said we have to wait to see if I'm pregnant before we do anything." I put the biggest pouty face on and make a big show to sigh loudly. "I know, sadly." Josie laughs at me before we pull out of the parking lot and head home.  
"Want to buy some pregnancy tests on the way home for you to take tomorrow night?" I couldn't help it, I was excited. "Sure," we pull into the local grocery store and walk out with three tests. We head back home and find Aunt Freya waiting for us.  
"How did it go?" Aunt Freya was standing outside of the school knowing we would be getting home soon. We hadn't told Alaric that we were doing this. I turn to Josie to let her answer. "Good, everything is done. Just can't take a pregnancy test until tomorrow night." Aunt Freya nods her head. "Good."  
We decide to grab some food from the kitchen to make lunch for the three of us. Once we finished eating, Aunt Freya left to go back to her hotel. We had an early morning tomorrow to start house hunting. "Babe, wanna go upstairs? There are some houses the realtor wanted us to look at online before we saw them." Josie stands up grabbing our plates to bring them back to the kitchen. "Sure, sounds good."  
We spent the rest of the night talking about how we would decorate and set up our house. We had a couple of houses we are going to look at tomorrow but Josie and I like one house in particular. We want to move in soon since our wedding is coming up in 6 weeks. Josie fell asleep early curled up into me.  
Josie POV-  
We both wake up to the alarm Hope set. Time to go meet the realtor. I was anxious to take a pregnancy test but knew I needed to wait. Hope and I grab our keys and walk out the door towards her car. Freya meets us downstairs.  
"So, this is a 3 bedroom 3.5 bath house. Two stories. It has a nice fenced in yard and is right down the road from the town center of Mystic Falls. It also has a two car garage." This is the house Hope and I liked last night. It was beautiful. We take a full tour of the house. Freya is talking up the realtor when Hope and I go upstairs to the master suite. "Is this enough closet for you, Jo?" I love that she is checking with me to make sure I like everything. "Yes, babe, this house is-" Hope finishes my sentence, "Perfect." I walk over to Hope and wrap my arms around her. "Is this the one?" She nods her head with a huge smile on her face. "I think it is."  
We go back downstairs to see the realtor. Hope takes charge immediately. "Can you put in an offer on this house for us?" She nods her head and pulls out her phone. "This is a great choice." The realtor walks out of the room. Freya turns to us pulling us both in for a hug. "I wanted to tell you. We are buying this house for you both as your graduation gift." Hope steps back. "Aunt Freya you don't have to, my trust fund has enough to cover it." Freya cuts her off and looks at me. "This will be the perfect house for you guys." I lean back into Freya giving her another hug. "Thank you so much." A single tear rolls down my cheek.  
The realtor walks back in after making a quick call. "I will let you know what they say but I think they will take it." I launch myself into Hope's arms as she swings me in a small circle. "I love you." Hope sets me back down to the floor. I don't let go of her hand as I step back. "Always and forever, babe."

Chapter 45:  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I drive home from the house and back to the school. We both know what we are going to do now. "Ready to go upstairs, babe?" Josie nods her head at me. We walk up the stairs to my room.  
Josie walks in and I shut the door behind us. She walks over to grab one of the tests out of the bag from yesterday. "I'll be back." Josie walks into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her.  
I sit on the edge of the bed waiting for Josie to finish. She comes back out after a minute and we set a timer. I lay down on my back and Josie lays down next to me wrapping her arm across my waist. "What if this doesn't work, Hope?" I let out a small sigh. "Well, we can try again if you want or I can try? It's completely up to you, babe." Josie curls into me more. "I want this to work."  
We lay there in silence until the alarm goes off. "Ready?" Josie nods her head as we both crawl out of bed. She turns to me, "You look," I walk into the bathroom and pick up the pregnancy test. I look and see a small plus sign. "Jo, it's positive, you're pregnant!" Josie runs into the bathroom. "Really?" She grabs the test from me to look for herself. "Oh my god, I'm pregnant." This makes me laugh. "Yes, you're pregnant, Jo." Josie leaps into my arms. I spin her around, huge smiles on our faces.  
Josie POV-  
We sign for the house later today. I found out I was pregnant about three weeks ago, and the wedding is in three weeks. Hope finishes loading some boxes into our car. Once we sign for the house, we can start moving in. Hope and I get into her car and drive towards the house. I reach my hand over and grab her hand leaving it resting on her leg as she drives.  
We finish signing for the house and the realtor leaves. "This is our house, Jo." Hope turns to me grabbing my hand and pulling me into her. "We are home." I lean in to kiss her. "Well, I'll start bringing in some boxes." Hope lets me go to walk to the car. "Are you going to let me help?" Hope had been so careful about how much she let me do since I am pregnant but I am not even showing yet. Hope doesn't say anything. "Babe, please let me help you." She grabs two boxes from the car. "How about I bring them in, you unpack them?" I nod my head. "Yeah, that works."  
We finished unpacking all of the boxes we brought before the movers we hired showed up to drop off the big furniture. Hope let me take charge. "Yeah that goes there, and this here." I directed all the movers. Hope and I had already talked about how we wanted to decorate the house so she just watched with a smirk on her face from the kitchen. The movers finish setting everything up and then leave at about 5 pm.  
I walk into the living room to see Hope laid out on the couch in the living room. When she sees me come in she scoots her body back so I can sit down too, leaning my back against her stomach. Hope reaches around and wraps her hand under my shirt placing it on my stomach. We both sit there relaxing for the first time that day until Hope asks, "Are you hungry? What do you want for dinner?" She does a very good job of checking up on me. "Yeah, I can go for food, can we go get some burgers? That sounds really good." Hope wraps her other arm around me giving me a quick squeeze. "You got it, babe."  
We spent the next couple of days setting up the house exactly like we wanted. We finished setting up every room except the baby's. I am standing in the doorframe looking at the room when Hope walks up behind me wrapping her arms around me. Neither one of us knew what we wanted to do. Hope leans in close to my ear. "How about we wait to find out what we are having before we decorate it? We will still have plenty of time." I nod my head. We had only confirmed with Freya that we are having a baby. Mom is out of the country right now so we plan on telling her when she gets back.  
Hope POV-  
I got a call yesterday from the ring shop that Josie's wedding band will be ready today to pick up. We both agreed to get each other the wedding band in secret. I wanted to get hers engraved with Always and Forever on the inside. All that was left to do was to confirm with the caterer, DJ, and flower people.  
My phone starts to buzz in my pocket so I unwrap myself from Josie and walk down the hall, "Hey Liz," I take a couple more steps away so Josie can't hear me. "Yeah today still works." Josie cocks her head looking at me. "I'll see you in a few." I hang up and put my phone back in my pocket. "Do I get to find out what that was about?" Josie crosses her arms across her chest. "Nope, I actually want you to be surprised when you see it." I give her a quick kiss before walking into our room to grab my things.  
Lizzie picks me up from our house so Josie can have my car if she needs it. We pull up to the ring store and we both get out of the car. The store owner recognizes me as I walk in. "Ms. Mikaelson, are you here to pick up the ring?" I nod my head. "Yes, I brought my fiancée's sister to approve it." Lizzie is practically vibrating next to me. She is super excited. She has been so helpful through this whole process.  
The man brings out the ring and hands it to me to inspect. Right on the inside of the silver band says "Always and Forever". It matches the engagement ring I bought here for Josie. I hand the ring to Lizzie to approve. "Hope, this is beautiful. And the always and forever is the perfect touch." Josie and I have been waiting to tell Lizzie about Josie being pregnant. We want to wait until after we get back from our honeymoon. It is so hard not telling her. We have gotten closer ever since she found out that Josie and I were engaged. That is another reason why waiting to decorate the baby's room is important. We want to tell everyone on our own time. "Good job, Hope, my sister will love it." I got the twin approval, that's all I needed.

Chapter 46:  
Josie POV-  
I knew Hope was leaving with Lizzie to probably get my wedding band but I didn't harass her too much. I still have to go pick hers up but it isn't ready until June 6th. Our wedding is June 16th so I have time. I grab Hope's car keys and drive to the local community college bookstore. I need to pick up my textbooks for my first semester. Dad said I could teach classes at the school if I get my teaching degree. The community college is right down the road so it is an easy commute for me to get to work and for Hope to drive to the school to help Dad. She still plans on teaching self defense classes and helping Dad defend the school from monsters. I pick up my books and head back home.  
Our honeymoon should last about two weeks according to Hope. She is planning the entire trip though. It is a surprise. By the time we get back, she will be back to helping my Dad and I will be starting my classes.  
I hear Hope and Lizzie come through the door talking. They walk into the living room to see me laying on the couch. "Are you returning my fiancée back to me now?" I turn towards Lizzie giggling. Lizzie sits down on the couch with me, Hope sitting down in the living room chair. "Yep, she got annoying." Hope drops her jaw to act offended but begins to laugh. "Yeah, only Josie tolerates me." We all three laugh.  
"Want to stay for dinner, Lizzie?" She looks over at me. "MG and I have a date night planned otherwise I would. Rain check?" I nod my head. Lizzie leans over to give me a hug before getting off the couch. "I'll see you soon, love you." Hope stands up to walk her out of the house. "Love you too, Liz." I hear the door click shut before Hope walks back into the room taking Lizzie's place on the couch with me.  
Hope grabs my hand. "Are you doing okay?" I nod. "Yeah, just tired from all this house decorating. Plus," I hesitate before finishing. "I'm a little nervous about our wedding and you won't even tell me where we are going for our honeymoon. So I don't know how to pack." I fall into Hope laying my head in her lap. "I'm just stressed."  
Hope starts running her hand through my hair. "Babe, I will tell you where we are going if it will make you feel better but I figured I would just pack for you or give you a list. And what are you nervous about for our wedding?" Her face shows she is concerned. She doesn't like seeing me this way. "I just want everything to go smoothly and I can't control everything happening. It's just a lot." I reach up placing my hand on Hope's face. "This is supposed to be our day and I want it to be perfect."  
Hope POV-  
Josie is looking up at me with her head in my lap. I can tell she is stressed. I wish she could wolf out like me. That is my biggest stress reliever. "Babe, everything will work out. And if I'm with you, the day will be perfect no matter what. We literally have eternity together. We have so much to look forward to." Josie is rubbing her thumb lightly across my cheek she still hasn't said much. "How can I help, Jo?" A smirk crosses her face. "Want to go upstairs?" I know what she wants to do. I stand up and pick Josie up bridle style eliciting a squeal from her mouth. She wraps her arms around my neck as I carry her up the stairs.  
3 Weeks Later-  
Hope POV-  
It is the night before the wedding and I am starting to feel antsy. I'm not nervous about Josie and I getting married but the whole social aspect. At least Josie will be by my side the entire time. She hasn't gone running with me since we found out that she is pregnant. "Hey babe, want to go on a run with me?" Her face lights up. "Just let me change real quick." She runs upstairs and comes back down wearing sweats. I pull into the school lot that I park in for work normally. It is still easiest to run in these woods. Josie and I walk hand in hand for the last night as fiancées.  
Ever since the Oregon trip, Josie always turns around to let me change without question. I quickly take off my clothes and place them under the same bush I always do. I start to think about being a wolf and quickly transform.  
I walk up to Josie and nudge her leg. We figured out a while ago that we can still communicate in our heads with each other even when I am a wolf. Josie's hand reaches down stroking my head. She sits down and I lay down with her placing my head in her lap. We always start out like this. That is when I hear it.  
I normally always just hear Josie's heartbeat but this was different. I lift my head looking at Josie's stomach. I can hear more heartbeats. I jump up my tail wagging hard. "Hope, what is wrong?" Josie stands up too. I push my nose against her stomach and listen. I can hear Josie's heartbeat and two others. Holy shit we are having twins. "Jo, I can hear two heartbeats!" I say quickly to Josie in my head. "Wait, babe, you're not just hearing mine and the baby's right?" I nod my head no vigorously, my nose still pressed against Josie. "Jo, we are having twins. I can hear both heartbeats. Oh my god." Josie wraps her arms around my neck squeezing tight. Tears flood her eyes. "We are having twins."

Chapter 47:  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I are still both asleep when Lizzie knocks on our bedroom door. We gave her a key to the house when we bought it. I see the door handle slowly open and Lizzie pokes her head through checking to make sure we are clothed. Lizzie mouths to me, "Time for me to take Jo." Josie is still curled up against me fast asleep. I raise one finger to Lizzie to have her give us a minute. She backs out of the room shutting the door.  
"Hey babe, your sister is here to get you. Today is our wedding day." I talk to Josie in my head. It seems to cut through her dreams better this way. I am rubbing my hand up and down her arm as her eyes flutter open. We stayed out late running last night. We didn't get home until about midnight. "What time is it?" Josie squints up at me. "Almost 9 am." That wakes her up. Josie leans up and gives me a kiss before rolling out of bed. I get out of bed too following her into the bathroom. She is quickly trying to brush her teeth so she doesn't keep Lizzie waiting too long.  
"Jo," I wrap my arms around her waist as she leans into me closing her eyes. "I love you." I kiss her neck before letting go of her. "I love you too." Josie quickly throws on some sweats to head over to Lizzie's apartment. Caroline is meeting them there. She walks over to the door stopping as she places her hand on the handle. She turns to look at me. "I'll see you later," she winks at me. "See you soon." I can't help but smile. I get to marry my girl today. Josie leaves our room and walks downstairs to go with Lizzie.  
Josie POV-  
I walk downstairs to find Lizzie sitting on our couch texting. She looks up at the sound of my footsteps. "Finally, Mom is waiting let's go," she grabs my hand dragging me to her car.  
It is a quick drive. Lizzie's apartment is only a few miles down the road. "So, Hope's ring is with your dress. Mom and I didn't peek at it as per your instructions. We are ready to do hair and makeup as soon as we get home and everything is ready at the venue." Lizzie has been the most helpful in this whole process. She helped in contacting venues and caterers. She's also my maid of honor, of course.  
We pull into the parking lot outside Lizzie's apartment and walk in to find Mom waiting for us. "Ready, honey?" She has a huge smile on her face as she gets up. "Yes, I am." We all three walk towards Lizzie's room and into her bathroom.  
Hope POV-  
After Josie left, I changed out of my sleep shirt and shorts and into some sweats. All of my family should be arriving shortly to help me get ready. I grab Josie's ring box out of my bedside table drawer and pull the ring out. I sit on the edge of our bed examining it again. I hear a knock at the front door after a couple of minutes.  
"Hope!" Aunt Freya, Aunt Bex, Uncle Kol, Marcel, Davina, Keelin, and baby Nik walk into my house. "How are you feeling, kiddo? Nervous?" I shake my head no. "Just ready to change Josie's title from fiancée to wife." All of my family laughs. I am beaming. I know Aunt Freya can tell I want to talk to her privately, she can see it on my face.  
"Well, we can start getting you ready in a minute but can I talk to you privately for a second?" Aunt Freya is doing her best to act normal. "Yeah, lets go upstairs." I lead her up the stairs and into Josie's and my room since it is already sound proofed even for vampires. "Alright, spill. You have that look, just like your father used to have when he wanted to talk about something." I swallow and take a deep breath before speaking. "Josie is pregnant with twins. I heard the heartbeats last night when we went out running. Three heartbeats, Josie's and the babies'." Aunt Freya's jaw drops. "That is amazing Hope! I'm so happy for you both! When are you planning on telling everyone else?" Josie and I had already talked about this. "We want to get an ultrasound picture to send to everyone after our honeymoon." Aunt Freya smiles. "I can't wait."  
Josie POV-  
"Okay, we are done." Mom and Lizzie step back from doing my hair and makeup. Mom starts to get teary. "Honey, you look beautiful." She walks over behind me and gives me a hug. "Hope is one lucky girl." Lizzie looks ready to cry too. "Okay, okay no more crying or I'll cry and my makeup looks amazing." I take a couple of deep breathes to prevent tears from forming. Mom and Lizzie wipe their eyes. "Let's have you put the dress on."  
Dad knocks on the bathroom door after I get the dress on. "Come in," Lizzie shouts. He walks through the door but stops when he sees me. "Jo, you looking stunning. I can't believe my little girl is getting married today." I drop the eye contact so I don't start crying. "Are we almost ready?" Dad looks to Mom and Lizzie, but they both turn to look at me. I reach to my neck to feel for my necklace. I haven't taken it off since Hope gave it to me. I drop my hand back down to my side. "I'm ready."  
Hope POV-  
My family and I drive over to the venue in two separate cars. I have Josie's ring resting in my lap during the drive over. We pull into the parking lot and Aunt Freya turns to look at me. "Alright, kiddo, let's go."  
Marcel and Uncle Kol each step to one side of me locking one of their arms with mine. Marcel leans over to whisper in my ear. "Your Mom and Dad would be so proud of you right now. We are all proud of you." I turn to look at him mumbling a quiet "thank you". The doors to the room open and the music starts.  
Marcel and Uncle Kol walk me down the aisle. I see everyone here. People from school and town. Even Elena and Damon were here with their daughter. We arrive to the front of the room so Marcel and Uncle Kol leave me to sit in their seats. I lock eyes with Lizzie who is holding our rings. She winks at me before I turn to look towards the door. It is hard waiting for Josie to walk through the doors. I can hardly stand still I am so excited. Everyone else is standing too, waiting. It feels like I have been up in front of the room for forever when I see Josie come around the corner and through the doors.

Chapter 48:  
Josie POV-  
Dad links his arm in mine. Lizzie should already be up there and Mom should be in her seat. Dad looks over at me and smiles. "Ready sweetie?" I nod my head and we start to walk forward.  
Dad and I turn the corner. There is a lot to look at but the first thing I notice is Hope. She looks beautiful. She is standing with the officiant of our wedding and Lizzie. I can see a couple of tears in her eyes. I hear Hope in my head as Dad and I are walking down the aisle. "Babe, you are stunning." I didn't think it was possible for my face to get any redder but it did. "Hope, have you looked in a mirror?" She winks at me.  
Dad and I arrive at the front of the room. He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before I walk up the couple of steps and place my hands in Hope's. The music stops and everyone sits down.  
"Welcome friends and family. We are gathered here today to bear witness to the marriage of Josie Saltzman and Hope Mikaelson. I understand you prepared vows?" He looks to us both as we nod our heads. "Whoever wants to start may do so."  
Hope POV-  
Josie nods to me telling me to go first. I prepared these last week and Lizzie helped me tweak it. It made Lizzie cry. "Josie, I vow to be there for you, to support you, and to love you unconditionally for the rest of our life together. I chose you to be no one other than yourself, and I have been yours since the day I met you. My heart belongs to you. I will always and forever choose you every day for the rest of my life. I love you, Jo."  
I see Josie's eyes get watery but she manages to hold it together. I can't say the same for Lizzie. She has tears rolling down her face behind Josie. She lets out a shaky breath before saying, "Okay, I should have gone first." This made the entire crowd laugh.  
"Hope, I choose you. To always stand by your side and sleep in your arms. I want to learn and grow with you through anything that comes our way. I will always be here to listen and comfort you when needed. My heart has belonged to you since I first met you 13 years ago. I knew that one day I would marry you and here we are. You are the love of my life and I will always run with you. I love you, Hope." I am doing my best to keep it together but it is hard. I quickly wipe a tear from my eye as do many individuals in the crowd.  
The officiant turns to Lizzie. "The rings?" She hands them to the officiant. He hands my ring to Josie and Josie's ring to me. "These rings are a symbol of your promise to one another." He turns to Josie. "Do you Josie Saltzman take Hope Mikaelson to be your wife for better or worse?" Josie looks to me. "Yes, I do." I place Josie's ring on her finger. "And do you Hope Mikaelson take Josie Saltzman to be your wife for better or worse?" I nod my head. "I do." Josie slides the ring onto my finger.  
"By the power invested in me by the state of Virginia, I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss the bride." I quickly pull Josie into me wrapping my arms around her waist and kiss her, sparks flying. Everyone jumps up from their seats and cheers loudly. When Josie and I break apart we walk hand in hand down the aisle and out of the room.  
Josie POV-  
"You may kiss the bride." Hope pulls me into her quickly and kisses me. We have kissed thousands of times but this was different, it was better. Hope and I are now married. We walk hand in hand back down the aisle as everyone is hooting and hollering around us. When we finally make it through the doorway Hope picks me up spinning me around in her arms. "Babe, we're married." Hope kisses me again. After she pulls away I can't help but say, "I love you." Hope pulls me back into her for a hug. "I love you too."  
Hope POV-  
The main wedding ceremony is over but we have cars scheduled to take us and our guests to the reception. Josie and I stand near the entrance of the ballroom waiting for our guests to arrive. We end up standing there for about forty five minutes greeting everyone who comes in until all of our guests have arrived.  
I walk with Josie over to the stage. Everyone immediately turns their attention to us. I have my arm wrapped around Josie's waist. "Friends and family, thank you for joining us today." Everyone begins to cheer loudly before I continue. "Food will be served soon and drinks are over there." I point to the side wall. "But until then," I turn to Josie extending my arm to her. "May I have this dance?"  
Josie takes my hand and the DJ starts to play "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran. I gave him an entire playlist to rotate through including songs from Josie's and my playlist we made a year ago titled "She's Mine". I lead Josie out to the middle of the floor and start dancing with her. She leans in close to me and gives me a kiss right as the song ends. Neither one of us able to stop smiling. Everyone else starts to move onto the dance floor next.  
I knew what song was about to play next. We needed something more up beat. As soon as it starts Josie's face lights up. "Two kids with their hearts on fire who's gonna save us now." Josie was so excited. She was smiling so big. It is "Call You Mine" by Chainsmokers. She turns to look at me. "Did you do this?" I nod my head. "This was the first song we danced to two and a half years ago after I asked you to be my girlfriend." Josie practically jumps into my arms again as I spin her around. She places her mouth against my ear. "You are the best wife in the entire world." I set her back down before answering. "Now we just need to get our last names changed."

Chapter 49:  
Josie POV-  
After a little while Dad pulled me away to dance with him, and Hope's family pulled her away. I know she was getting tired of the chaos. Social situations aren't her favorite even our own wedding but she has done a good job so far. "Babe, you good?" I hear Hope in my head while I am dancing with Dad. "Yep, all good here, real question is are you doing alright?" I spot Hope out of the corner of my eye. "Might get some air in a couple of minutes."  
I ended up dancing with everyone, Hope's family, MG, Kaleb, Penelope, my family. It was a lot. My feet are tired of being in these heels. Everything is finally starting to settle down. I start looking for Hope since people keep wanting to say goodbye to us. "Hope, where are you?" I ask in my head. I wait but don't receive a response. I am trying to keep my heart rate down. Don't want to upset the babies.  
I see Lizzie talking with Mom. "Hey, have you guys seen Hope?" Both of them shake their head no. "We saw her head outside earlier. Told me she needed some air." Lizzie points to the balcony doors. I start walking that way.  
Hope POV-  
I finally manage to elude more family members and friends and escape to the balcony that is off of the venue. "Finally." I say to myself. The sun has gone down and the stars are beginning to show. I rest my arms on the railing letting out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding. I can be social when I need to be but doesn't mean I want to. I just needed a quick break.  
It is super quiet minus the slight thump of the bass from the speakers inside. I close my eyes enjoying it. All of a sudden, I hear a loud crack of a branch. Two vampires launch up and on to the balcony. "Hope Mikaelson. We have been waiting for this day for too long." They both step forward immediately cornering me. I turn my head to look through the balcony door window and see Penelope. She can see on my face that something is wrong.  
Penelope POV-  
This wedding was amazing. I am so happy for Josie and Hope. MG, Kaleb, and I each take a turn dancing with Josie before settling at a table to enjoy some food. We are making small talk when I see Hope standing outside on the balcony. Her face ridden with fear. "MG, Kaleb, come with me." We all three stand up and start walking towards the doors.  
Once we get closer, we see two men begin to attack Hope. We pick up speed closing the distance and tear open the doors to find Hope in a choke hold. One small movement and her neck can be broken. I raise my hand and begin chanting a spell. A magical force bursts from my hand sending the two vampires flying but not before we hear a snap.  
Josie POV-  
I am walking towards the balcony doors from across the room when I feel pain shoot through my neck. Hope. I start to run. I arrive at the open doors to see Penelope kneeling next to Hope. "What the hell happened?" I couldn't keep the anger out of my voice. "Josie, these two vampires attacked Hope, MG and Kaleb just jumped down to find them. I blasted them off the balcony." I reach my hand up to my neck, it is throbbing.  
"Penelope, go get my Dad. I'll stay here with Hope." I sit down placing Hope's head in my lap and slowly start stroking her hair. I know she'll wake up soon but it is hard to see her like this. I don't know exactly what happened. I look up to see Dad rushing towards us with Mom right behind him. "Dad, what," I stutter. "What do we do?" Dad turns around to Penelope and mumbles something to her. He didn't like Penelope's response. Dad turns to Mom mumbling again. She turns around and vamps away. I can see Lizzie inside saying goodbye to our guests for us. "Dad, what is going on? Why is Hope unconscious?" Dad kneels down next to me. "Penelope said Hope's neck was snapped which means she died." He pauses. "Her vampire side was just triggered."  
I don't respond. Mom returns with a blood bag. Lizzie walks over having just ushered everyone else out of the venue. "Jo, it's going to be okay." She sits down next to me placing her hand on my knee. Dad's phone buzzes in his pocket. "Hey MG, yeah, okay, I'll be right there." He hangs up the phone. "MG and Kaleb managed to apprehend the vampires. Penelope's spell knocked them unconscious." Dad turned to look at Penelope. "Will you help me get them back to the school with the boys?" She nods her head. Dad stands up letting Penelope kneel next to me. "It'll be okay, Jo. She is going to wake up." I nod my head still not saying much. She stands up and walks away with Dad.  
Mom and Lizzie are still with me. We are all three just waiting for Hope to wake up. After a couple of minutes of staring at Hope's lifeless body, she starts to move her head lifting it slightly out of Josie's lap before dropping it back down. She opens her eyes and looks up at me confused. "Jo, why does my neck hurt so much?" She blinks her eyes a couple of times and raises her hand to her neck rubbing it.  
Hope finally notices the company. A look of recognition crosses her face. Mom talks for me. "Hope, two vampires attacked you. They snapped you neck and you are transitioning." I can tell Hope is having trouble processing this. My eyes are flooding with tears. Hope looks up at me. "No, no no no, we had a plan. Jo, I'm so sorry I was doing my best to fight them off but," Hope closes her eyes tight and grabs my hand letting out a shaky breath. "I am so sorry."

Chapter 50:  
Josie POV-  
Hope looks devastated. "Mom," I reach my hand out to have her hand me the blood bag. I turn back to Hope, her eyes closed again. She reaches up placing both of her hands over her face. I look back up at Mom and Lizzie. "Can you give us a minute?" They both nod and stand up. I wait a second before looking back down. "Hope, look at me." She slowly removes her hands from her face placing them across her stomach her fingers interlocked.  
"Babe, yes, this throws a wrench in our plans but that doesn't mean that our lives are ruined. We still have the twins on the way and our wonderful house. You have your job at school. And take off you ring, read the inside." Hope twists off her ring to read the inside. A smile crosses her lips. She reads it out loud. "I'm Yours, You're Mine." Hope looks up at me. "Take yours off and read it." I twist off my ring. "Always and Forever." Hope appears to be relaxing a little. I can't help but laugh. "Well this worked out well. Did you plan this? Our rings finished our conversation for us." Hope lifts her hand and places it on my cheek chuckling. "I'm just awesome like that."  
Hope POV-  
The quote in my ring is perfect. Josie did a good job. Plus the ring is gorgeous. The burning sensation in my throat is beginning to pick up though as is the throbbing in my gums. I pull my hand back from Josie's cheek and sit up rubbing my neck slightly. I bet Josie can feel the burning in my throat. "Can you feel it too?" I grab her hand sitting cross legged in front of her. "Yeah, I can. Are you ready?" Josie picks up the blood bag and offers it to me.  
I unscrew the cap and give Josie one last glance as I place the top of the blood bag in my mouth. I can feel my eyes changing. It is a similar feeling as when I wolf out.  
Josie continues watching me. Neither of us sure what will happen now. We both know how volatile new vampires can be. Caroline and Lizzie walk back over, Lizzie slightly behind Caroline. When I finish the blood bag, I feel my new teeth slice through my gums. After concentrating for a second, I get them to retract. "Feel better?" Caroline asks. I nod my head. Josie extends her hand to me. "Let's go home."  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I were supposed to leave tomorrow morning but after talking to Mom about potential issues Hope might encounter in the next couple of days, we decide to postpone our honeymoon so Hope can have time to adjust. I also know she wants to interrogate the vampires who attacked her. We both climb into Hope's car after saying goodbye to Mom and Lizzie.  
We drive mostly in silence but our hands remain interlocked the entire time. I can tell Hope's brain is running a mile a minute. We pull into the driveway and head inside.  
We both finish brushing our teeth and I climb into bed sitting with my back against the head board. Hope goes to shut the bathroom door and throws it shut a little too hard. It slams shut shaking the entire house. She winces at the sound. "Hope, come to bed, carefully." This makes her smile slightly. She was already strong as part werewolf but she now has even more strength. Hope walks over and carefully crawls into bed next to me but keeps about two feet between us. She rests her head on her arm laying on her side to look at me.  
I reach out my hand and Hope takes it quickly locking our fingers together. "Babe, talk to me." Hope adjusts herself so she is laying on her back now and looks towards the ceiling. She is quiet. Her voice is barely above a whisper. "I can hear and feel and see everything." Hypersensitivity. Mom mentioned that. "Tell me what you can hear." Hope is quiet but eventually starts talking. "I can hear the fridge downstairs running. The light from the hallway is buzzing. Someone down the road just pulled into their driveway." She stops. I know she isn't saying something.  
I feel the burn in my throat begin to pick up again. "Hope." She turns her head looking at me. Her eyes watery. "What else?" Hope shuts her eyes tight. "You. The babies. I can hear all of your heartbeats. I can hear the blood rushing through your veins and," she trails off. I squeeze her hand encouraging her. "My throat is burning again." We had just left the wedding venue about two hours ago where she drank the first blood bag. "I can feel it. You're fighting it though. You already appear to be exhibiting more control than most new vampires. Your other sides might be helping you control it. Mom said it was going to take some time for you to adjust and gain complete control."  
Hope nods her head. One tear escapes her eyes. "How can I help, babe? Mom gave me another blood bag to bring home. It's in the fridge downstairs if you want." I am just happy she is talking to me about it. She lets go of my hand and rolls off the side standing next to the bed. "I'm going to go get it then we can sleep okay?" I nod my head. Hope carefully opens our bedroom door and slips downstairs.  
I am having trouble keeping my eyes open waiting for her. Next time I open my eyes, Hope is crawling back in to bed. I lay my hand out to her not sure how close she wants to be. She surprises me though. She scoots all the way against my side resting her head in the crook of my shoulder and places her hand under my shirt on my stomach. I wonder if her hypersensitivity can feel the babies. Normally, I am laying in her arms but tonight, I know she wants to be able to roll away if she needs to. We both are craving the closeness. I look down and see Hope's eyes start to flutter shut. It doesn't take long for both of us to fall fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.


	6. Baby?

Chapter 51:  
Hope POV-  
I subconsciously start rubbing my left hand along our sheets. I can feel every single stitch. I open my eyes and see Josie still fast asleep. Her mouth slightly hanging open. Our hands are still interlocked between us.  
I carefully remove my hand from her grasp and push a pillow towards her. Josie feeling the pillow, turns to her side and wraps her arms around it immediately. I slip out of bed and make my way downstairs.  
I pull my phone out of my pocket and sit down on the couch. I open up Caroline's contact and hit call. I hear her pick up. "Hey Caroline, can you meet up?" "How about I come there, I can be there in 20. I'll bring more blood bags." "Thanks Caroline." She hangs up.  
I turn on the TV and put on the news setting the volume to super low but it still feels like the news anchors are screaming. I grab the remote from next to me and press the power button too hard. The remote crumbles in my hand, broken, but the TV is now off. I hear a knock at the front door.  
"Here," Caroline hands me a blood bag. I take it quickly screwing the cap off and placing it in my mouth. I finish the bag, a huge sigh escaping my lips. "This urge will decrease in the next couple of days, Hope. How did last night go with Josie?" Caroline looks upstairs. I assume she can hear Josie's heartbeat just like me. "Wait, who else is upstairs?" She takes a step forward closer to the stairs. "Two others?" Caroline turns to me waiting for the confirmation. Her face breaks into a smile. "Josie is pregnant with twins. We found out a couple of days ago when I wolfed out and could hear them." Caroline turns to me pulling me into a huge hug. "Congrats, Hope." I can hear the excitement in her voice.  
I hear the change in Josie's heart rate. The door clicks open. "Mom? What are you doing here?" Josie walks down the stairs giving Caroline a hug. "I came to bring some more blood bags and check in on you both. Anything you would like to tell me?" Josie turns to me, a confused look on her face. "She can hear their heartbeats, too." I let out a small laugh at Josie's expression. Her jaw drops as she starts to stutter. "We, we wanted to tell you, but we, wanted to wait until we got an ultrasound, and," Josie stops talking. Caroline places her hand on Josie's shoulder. "Honey, I'm just messing with you. I'm so happy for both of you. I couldn't hear their individual heartbeats the other times because there were too many people around."  
Josie POV-  
Mom knows I am pregnant now. She lifts her hand off of my shoulder. "May I?" She moves her hand to in front of my stomach. I lift my shirt allowing her to place her hand. I look up at her waiting for her facial expression. She looks over to Hope. "Did you feel this?" Hope nods her head. "Yeah, fell asleep last night feeling them breath and move around." She hadn't told me she could feel them moving. Mom removes her hand from my stomach and steps back. "Can I get some coffee? Then we can talk." Hope turns around and we all three head to the kitchen.  
I pour all of us a cup of coffee, pulling out the coffee creamer for Hope and the sugar for Mom. I stand against the kitchen counter bent over my coffee as Hope and Mom sit in the barstools across from me. "So, how is it going?" Mom turns to look at Hope then me. I look back at Hope. "I was telling Josie last night, I just feel sensitive to every noise. The hypersensitivity is a lot. Plus the burning in my throat is ever present. Josie can feel it too." Mom nods her head running her fingers along the side of her cup. "Tell me what you are afraid of doing." I can see the fear in Hope's eyes, she was hoping Mom wouldn't ask that. I turn to Mom. "She can hear the blood running through my veins and the babies, tell me if I am wrong babe, but I think you're afraid of hurting us." Hope's head drops to look at the counter. I reach my hand up, Hope takes it slowly interlocking our fingers but keeps her head down. "Well, I have an idea for us to answer some of our questions."  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I pile into Caroline's car. We sit in the backseat while Caroline drives. She didn't say much about what she wanted to try. Josie sits in the middle seat next to me. I reach my hand over placing it over her shirt onto her stomach. "What do you feel?" Josie asks in my head. "Mostly them moving around slightly. I am pretty sure they are snuggled up together based on their movements and where I can feel their hearts beating." I can't help but smile. I reach my hand down placing it on top of Hope's. We both look up and see Caroline smiling at us in the rear view mirror. We pull into the school's parking lot.  
"Okay, Hope can you go get Alaric and Lizzie?" Caroline looks at me. I really don't want to leave Josie but I tuck my head and start walking into the school. I knock on Alaric's office door first. "Hey Dr. Saltzman, Caroline wants to do some blood training or something with Josie and me, can you help?" He stands up from his desk. "Yeah," he follows me out of his office. We run into Lizzie when leaving, "Hey, your mom wants help doing something with Josie and me, can you come?" Lizzie looks to Dad who shrugs his shoulders. "Sure, be right out."  
Alaric and I walk back outside to see Caroline and Josie standing in the open field. We get about 20 feet away. I smell it before I see it. Josie's blood I'm pretty sure. I look to her and see beads of blood dripping down her arm. It is sliced.  
The burning in my throat intensifies. I can feel my eyes changing. I take a couple more steps forward. I can hear Caroline's voice trying to cut through my concentration before I close the distance.

Chapter 52:  
Josie POV-  
Hope walks off towards the school as Mom drags me to the middle of the field behind the school. "Okay honey, I want to make a small incision on your arm. Your blood will be Hope's greatest temptation. When she gets back out here, I want to see her reaction. Lizzie, Alaric, and I will fend her off if she can't stop. I have a theory." I nod my head. "Care to explain the theory?" Mom lets out a small laugh. "Let's see if I am right first."  
I'm not happy about having my arm sliced but I am curious to see Hope's reaction, too. Mom grabs a numbing spray and a small scalpel. I fold up my shirt sleeve and turn to Mom.  
It doesn't take long for us to see Hope walking back out of the school with Dad. Lizzie should be close behind. Hope gets about 20 feet away when she stops walking. My heart rate is picking up slightly. I can see her eyes start to change. Black veins begin to ripple under her eyes. She takes a couple more steps forward. I look down at my arm, beads of blood are rolling off it and falling into the grass. Mom starts to talk. "Hope, control it. Try to focus on something else. This is Josie, your wife." Hope continues to step forward like she is stalking prey.  
She takes one more step and leans forward to close the distance, to pounce. Her name erupts from my lips, fear filling the word. "Hope!" I close my eyes wincing waiting for her to take me down. My hands raise in front of me defensively but nothing hits me. I open my eyes to see Hope within arms reach her eyes now flashing between the black of her vampire side and the gold of her wolf side.  
I lift my hand and place it against her cheek slowly. Her eyes stop flashing and stay golden. Guilt flashes across her face. "Jo, are you okay?" Her voice is shaky and filled with concern. She could hear how scared I was when I shouted her name. "Yeah, Hope, you controlled it. See? I'm okay." I rub small circles on her cheek as she leans into my touch placing her hand on top of mine. Mom and Dad step forward. Hope blinks her eyes a couple more times and the blue returns. "Your wolf side appears to be more dominant. It won't let your vampire side hurt Josie. Once you heard her, your eyes stayed golden." Hope turns to look at them. "Don't do that again without telling me." Her eyes are gold.  
Her hand drops from mine. Before she can step towards them I call to her. "Hope, look at me." She turns her head back after glaring at my parents. Hope blinks a couple more times until the blue returns. I keep looking at her but talk in my head to her. "I am okay, babe. Take a deep breath. Look, I am okay. It was the surprise that gave us your best reaction. It isn't their fault. You are letting your anger control you." She nods her head pulling me in to kiss my forehead before turning back to my parents. "Sorry, I understand why you did it." We all turn to see Lizzie walking up to us. "What did I miss?"  
Hope POV-  
Caroline and Alaric want to test a few more things but I am really hesitant. Josie ensures me that everything will be okay though. Caroline pulls out a quick healing gel similar to what Josie and I have made in class before. She applies some to Josie's arm, the cut healing quickly. "Okay, this time we want to test your ability to resist blood." Caroline grabs a blood bag and walks away from us. Alaric grabs Lizzie and walks in the opposite direction.  
"Alright Josie, don't say anything. We want to see if Hope can resist without your help." I see Josie sit down between the blood and Lizzie. Caroline unscrews the cap and turns the blood bag to the side allowing some to fall to the ground. The gnawing in my throat intensifies. My eyes ripple changing to black as I step towards Caroline.  
Lizzie calls out to me before getting to close. "Hope!" Alaric pulls out a knife and places it against Lizzie's throat. I can smell and hear the blood hitting the ground. It trickles down the blades of grass. I look between the blood and Lizzie before stepping closer to the blood. "Wrong way." I hear Josie in my head. I turn to look at her.  
"Josie! Didn't we say don't talk to her?" Mom screws the cap back onto the bag and walks over to us. Alaric drops the knife. "Sorry, sorry." My eyes go back to blue but I can still smell the blood. Caroline turns to Lizzie. "Block her hearing for a minute." Lizzie siphons some magic and sends me to my knees. My head rattling preventing me from hearing Caroline whisper to Alaric. I press my hands hard against my temples to try and alleviate the throbbing. After what feels like forever, Lizzie lets me stand back up. I look over to see it had a similar effect on Josie. "Let's try one more thing."  
"Now Josie, no words at all this time, okay?" She nods before walking away from us with Lizzie. Caroline unscrews the bag of blood standing closer to me than Josie. The scent floods my nose. I never thought I would crave this scent. Caroline nods at Lizzie.  
She lifts Josie off the ground and levitates her using magic. She is probably 10 feet off the ground, it will definitely hurt Josie if she is dropped. "Blood or Josie, you choose." Caroline shakes the blood bag in front of me. She squeezes the bag sending blood out in a burst. "Blood or Josie." Caroline repeats.  
All I want to do is take that blood bag from Caroline but I need to save Josie. I turn towards Josie and begin to run not really caring about the blood anymore. I just want to make sure she is okay. I stop underneath her as Lizzie drops her. Josie lands in my arms. "Blue eyes babe, good job." She leans up and kisses my cheek wrapping her arms around my neck.  
"Good job, Hope!" Alaric walks over with Caroline. Lizzie steps closer to us leaning in, "Josie definitely has more control over you than you think. You are totally whipped." Lizzie smirks at me. I let Josie to the ground but keep my arm around her waist. I say in my head so only Josie can hear, "Yeah, I know I am and I love it." She giggles.  
"Hope, I wouldn't be too concerned with hurting Josie. We just proved that your wolf side will protect your from attacking her and your vampire side will choose her over blood probably due to your imprint. You are exhibiting more control than I have ever witnessed in a newly turned vampire." I nod at Caroline. "Thank you, now can we go interrogate those bastards that killed me?" Alaric laughs. "Yeah, they are in a wolf transition space. Just, don't kill them until we get the information out off them." Josie turns to give me a look, one eyebrow raised. "Fine, no killing." I put on a fake pouty face only for a second before smiling back at Josie. We all turn and head inside.

Chapter 53:  
Josie POV-  
Hope grabs my hand as we walk inside the school. We walk down the stairs towards the basement. "Babe, are you sure you want to come in with me?" Hope gives my hand a squeeze. She looks worried about me being in there. "Someone has to keep you from killing them, pretty sure I'm the only one able to." We both giggle. "You're my kryptonite, Josie Saltzman."  
Dad, Mom, and Lizzie stand back as we approach the door leading to the wolf transition spaces. Hope drops my hand as we walk inside. "What the hell? I thought we killed you!" The first vampire stands up shock fills his face. "Yeah well, you should have done more research. And now, you're going to wish you hadn't done it." Hope walks slowly over to the transition space that is holding the first vampire.  
I pull up a seat and sit down to watch my wife interrogate. The vampire in the second transition space looks uneasy. He keeps glancing between Hope and me. "Hope, I think the other guy wants some attention." I say out loud. He immediately starts shaking his head back and forth quickly. "No, no, I mean, I'm good." He is stuttering all over the place. "Care to explain why you attacked her then?" I stand up from my chair causing him to stumble backwards.  
He raises his hands in surrender. We found the weak link of the two. "Look, Klaus is the reason we are stuck in this life. He turned some guy who started turning people with no care for the effect. We just wanted a little payback that is all." Hope walks over to stand in front of his transition space and places her hands on the bars. The first vampire remains silent keeping his eyes on the ground. "So you thought the best thing to do was come for Klaus' daughter? You have drastically altered my future now. You should be thanking me for having not killed you yet. My hunger for blood right now is through the roof because of you two." She smacks her hand on the bars sending the vampire stumbling to the ground.  
Hope's voice is steady. I've never heard her talk like this. Her protective voice has a little more bite, a little less control. This, this is intimidating. "What do you expect us to do with you now? Because if you come for me or anyone I care about ever again, you won't live to see another day and you best believe it will be painful for you."  
She turns her head to glare at the first vampire. His entire posture shrinks under her view. "We, we won't come back. You will never see us again if you let us go. We made a mistake attacking you." The second vampire climbs off the floor. "I swear, you won't see us again." Hope nods her head and looks back at me. "You believe them?" She asks in my head. I nod. "They sound scared, I think you've made your point. Let's talk to Dad though." Hope looks away. We both turn and walk out the door slamming it shut behind us.  
Once the door shuts, Lizzie's hands glow as she spells the room to be soundproof even to the vampires. Hope moves closer to me placing her arm around my waist pulling me closer, my arm instinctively wraps around her too. Her tough exterior falls quickly once she is back with me. "Can I just say, you guys are hashtag power couple goals." Lizzie laughs. I lean over and kiss Hope on the cheek, a huge smile erupts on her face. Mom throws a blood bag at her. "I know you're hungry."  
"So, they attacked you for revenge and now say they won't ever do it again?" Dad is clarifying. "Yeah, Hope scared them, bad. I thought the weak link was going to wet himself." Hope lets out a small laugh. "Are we going to let them go?" I turn to look between Mom and Dad. "Hope?" They both look to her. I can tell she is thinking. "Let them rot another day. I'm not sure yet. Probably let them go tomorrow after I threaten them again." Hope looks over at me. "Want to go run?" I nod my head. "I'd love to."  
Hope POV:  
Josie and I leave Caroline, Alaric, and Lizzie. We walk out the back doors of the school. Josie turns to me. "Have you tried to vamp run yet?" I shake my head. "No, I haven't." Josie drops my hand. "Try." She stops walking. I take a couple more steps forward before turning to look back at her. We are in the same field we were in earlier today to do blood training. "Go on, you got it babe." I turn back around and step forward.  
All I did was blink and I was a football field length away from Josie. Her jaw drops. It is a different experience seeing others vamp. But me actually doing it, this is a rush like when I wolf out.  
I turn around and vamp to Josie sweeping her off her feet. I can feel her heartbeat settle once we stop moving. I've never had any trouble picking Josie up before but my combined wolf and vampire strength makes it even easier. "This is amazing, babe." I set her down but keep her close to me. "Eventually, you'll be able to run with me whether I vamp or wolf out. You'd be able to keep up instead of having to ride me." Josie's face pouts. "But I love riding you." I lean forward and kiss her. "I know." I wink at her before we continue walking to the woods line.

Chapter 54:  
Hope POV-  
Josie is 8 months pregnant now. Her stomach has gotten so round. She walks around most of the time with one hand resting on it. I get home from work and can already hear the music from in the house with my vamp hearing. "Some nerve you have to break up my lonely and tell me you want me." I'm Yours by Alessia Cara. Josie has been listening to this song on repeat lately.  
I walk through the front door and go up the stairs to see Josie dancing around the babies' room while painting. I stand there for a second just watching a huge smile on my face. Josie turns around and sees me. "You just going to stand there or you going to join me?" She sticks her hand out towards me as I lean off the doorframe. I start spinning her around as she sings. "And I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared to fall again but if you promise me you'll catch me then it's okay."  
We decided to paint the room yellow. Josie wants to wait to find out the genders of the babies. I pull Josie in close to me her back to my stomach. I wrap my arms around her placing one hand on her stomach. We are expecting the twins on January 7th so Josie is going to take online classes for this next semester so she can be home more. I will only be going to the school to help Alaric in dire emergencies so I can be here for Josie. The 7th is the day we were told but I've heard the story of Caroline giving birth to Josie and Lizzie early so we are making sure we are ready.  
"Jo, did you come up with some potential names? This was the deadline we set." She turns around to face me. Her stomach pressed against me. "I did." Her face lights up. We each came up with one boy and one girl name since we weren't sure if we would have one girl and boy, two boys, or two girls. I grab her hand and start to lead her out of the room. "Let's go sit down on the couch downstairs."  
I sit down first with my back pressed against the arm rest. Josie lays down between my legs pressed up against me on her back. We interlock both of our hands together and rest them on her stomach. This has been our daily routine for the past couple of months. It is our daily time to be with each other away from all of the chaos of school and work. The only change has been how much the twins have grown.  
Once we are settled, I ask again. "What names did you come up with?" Josie snuggles in closer to me. "I was thinking for a boy, Elijah James, for your uncle and my Dad's middle name. And for a girl, Andrea Elizabeth, for your Mom and Lizzie." I lean down and kiss Josie on her neck. "Those are great, Jo. We had similar thoughts. Boy, I was thinking Nicolas Kol, and for a girl, Rebecca Josette, for your bio Mom and my Aunt." Josie turned her head so she could look at me. "I love those names. Our kids are going to have that Mikaelson wild side for sure with these names." I drop my jaw acting shocked before responding. "Yeah, but hopefully, they'll find their Josie Saltzman to tame the wild." I start poking Josie's sides eliciting a squeal. "You, Mrs. Saltzman-Mikaelson, are a real romantic softie." I lean in to whisper in her ear. "Only for you, Mrs. Saltzman-Mikaelson."  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I crawl into bed that night and curl up in our usual spot. She wraps her arm around me and places it on my stomach so she can feel the babies. They have definitely been kicking more and more.  
Hope and I are headed to New Orleans tomorrow to see Hope's family once more before the babies are born for Christmas. We both wake up to Hope's alarm going off at 6 am. We want to get a head start on our drive since it is 15 hours with no traffic. "Alright babe, do you have everything? Phone, chargers, clothes, your wife?" She makes this joke a lot since I have developed pregnancy brain. "Hmm, I think I have everything." She reaches over interlocking our hands.  
We are about 4 hours away when the car starts to glow red from the inside. "What is that?" Hope's eyes are still on the road. I let go of her hand and slowly raise my shirt up to see my stomach glowing. "I think we have a couple of siphoners on our hands, babe."  
Hope glances away from the road to look down. She places one hand on my stomach. "How are you feeling, Jo?" I can see concern flooding Hope's face. I know Mom talked to her about her pregnancy. "I feel fine right now but I think this is the first time they have done this. I'm okay. We will talk to Freya when we get to New Orleans, okay?" Hope nods her head and removes her hand from my stomach grabbing onto my hand again.  
We pull into the driveway behind the Mikaelson mansion and are greeted by Freya and Keelin. It is perfect timing. My stomach begins to glow again as I get out of the car. Freya's face drops. I look over and Hope has a similar look. "When did this start?" Freya looks to me. "About four hours ago, we noticed it for the first time." Freya walks with me inside as Hope and Keelin grab our bags from the car.  
"How are you feeling, Josie?" Freya helps me sit down on the couch. "I haven't noticed a change but they have only done it the one time four hours ago and when you saw just now." Hope walks in with Keelin. She vamps up the stairs and puts our bags away before sitting down next to me on the couch pulling me into her.  
Hope's eyes flash gold for a brief second when she looks at me. "Hope, when was the last time you ran?" I look up at her. "A couple of days ago maybe." I raise one eyebrow at her waiting for a more accurate answer. Hope pauses, "2 weeks." She leans into me holding me tighter breathing softly into my neck.  
Hope POV-  
I lean into Josie not wanting to be away from her. I can tell I'm fighting my wolf off right now. "Freya, will this be able to wait until tomorrow?" Josie asks. Freya nods her head. "If it just started, we probably have a couple of days."  
Josie turns her head to look at me. "You need to go run. Tonight. I will wait right here for you. Freya and Keelin will make sure I am okay." I really do not want to leave Josie but I can tell it is getting harder to control my wolf the longer I wait. I already have to fight the blood lust as a vampire; I don't need to be fighting off my wolf too. I nod my head at Josie. "Okay, babe." I give her a quick kiss before leaving the house to head to the bayou.  
I finish running and get back to the house about 12:30 am. I walk in to see Josie fast asleep on the couch, a blanket lightly covering her. Freya walks out. "She just fell asleep a little while ago. She's been waiting for you. She refused to go upstairs without you. Her stomach glowed once more while you were gone." I carefully pick Josie up off the couch. "Thank you, Aunt Freya." I walk upstairs with Josie and place her in my bed.  
I pull the covers up around her and quickly brush my teeth before joining her. Even subconsciously, she is drawn towards my body heat. She scoots over her back to me as I wrap my arm around her, my hand on her stomach. I can feel a little extra warmth as Josie's stomach glows again only for a couple of seconds. I lean forward whispering. "Alright, kids no hurting your Momma. You still have a little more time in there." I can hear their heartbeats pick up ever so slightly when I speak to them. They always do. This is going to happen faster than we want it to, I just know it. I settle in and eventually fall asleep to the sound of my wife's breathing.

Chapter 55:  
Josie POV-  
I never feel overly hot when I sleep even with Hope radiating the amount of heat she does but for some reason I wake up hot. I look down and see my stomach is glowing again. Hope is staring at me quietly just watching. I mouth quietly, "Stalker." She rolls her eyes at me. "I'm your wife, you knew what you were getting into." I scoot over closer into Hope as she wraps her arms around me a huge grin on her face.  
After a couple of minutes, Hope lifts her head off the pillow, listening. "Hey, I think the rest of my family is here." I nod my head as we both get up and change. We head downstairs to find Marcel and Rebecca sitting down on the couch, Kol and Davina in the living room chairs, and Keelin, Nik, and Freya on the floor. When we walk in, Nik immediately stands up and runs over to me wrapping his arms around my legs. "Josie!" Hope squats down next to him waiting for her hug from him. "Hope!" he lets go of me to jump into Hope's arms, she picks him up off the ground. "How are you doing, Nik? Did you miss me?" I always love watching Hope interact with him. He nods his head quickly at Hope before hugging her neck.  
Marcel and Rebecca scoot over to let me sit down. Hope eventually sets Nik down and sits on the couch arm rest next to me placing her arm around my shoulders. She turns to Freya. "Aunt Freya, did you update them?" I turn to Davina and Rebecca who both look confused. Right on time, again, the twins light up my stomach. It begins to glow red. Davina's voice is quiet. "The twins are siphoners like you and your sister." Davina stands up and walks over to get a closer look. "May I?" She asks. I nod as she places her hand against my stomach. You can feel a tiny bit of warmth when they are siphoning. "They do a good job of only doing it a little bit at a time that I haven't felt a huge drain yet." Davina stands back as Rebecca approaches wanting to feel too. Hope remains still, carefully observing from next to me.  
"So, Davina, I was wondering if you could help me spell something that the twins could siphon to prevent them from siphoning Josie too much? Caroline, when she was pregnant with the girls, had something similar made and it helped a little bit." Freya is looking at Davina. "Yeah, of course," she turns back to us. "When are you due?" Hope answers for me. "January 7th but I am thinking it might need to be sooner than that if the twins start to siphon more." Freya and Davina nod in agreement. "Josie, have you called your parents? They might want to come down here in case you need to give birth before you get back." All this talk about giving birth makes me anxious. I know Hope can tell; we both feed off each other when we are nervous. "No, I haven't. I will give them a call." I get up off the couch and walk out of the room.  
Hope POV-  
Josie leaves to call her parents to see if they want to come down to New Orleans. We really don't know how quickly the twins are going to start draining Josie. Caroline was a vampire when she gave birth to the twins. Josie is only a witch with some quicker healing thanks to our bond. Josie comes back in and sits down next to me. "They will get here tomorrow." Everyone nods their heads, "Perfect." Aunt Freya stands and motions to Davina. "Let's get started."  
I take Josie's hand and lead her outside when we all disperse. "What are we doing, babe?" I open the car door for her before getting behind the wheel. "I think we both could use a little break." I grab her hand and start driving towards the bayou. I park as close as I can then help Josie out of the car. We walk hand in hand to the dock that overlooks the water. We don't say much but it is comfortable silence; both of us just craving the company of one another.  
We both sit down at the edge of the dock with our feet hanging over the water. Josie's stomach begins to glow again. She leans into me as I wrap my arm around her pulling her closer. After a couple of seconds, the glowing stops. "Hope, do we need to talk about what will happen if I die giving birth?" This is what has been bothering her. I don't say anything; I just keep looking at the water. "Babe," she reaches her hand up to my cheek forcing me to look at her. I try to hold it back but tears begin to flood my eyes. "That won't happen, everything is going to work out. I will make sure that we get our happy ending." She starts to rub circles on my cheek as I lean into her touch. "Hope, we need to talk about this as much as neither of us want to. You and Freya both had the same worried look on your face last night. All of us know that Mom barely survived and she is a vampire. We are all thinking it."  
I pull Josie into me, her arms wrap around my back. I know I am getting the sleeve of her shirt wet. "Hope, can you just promise me something then I will drop it?" I pull back from her shoulder and mumble a quiet yes. "If something happens to me, you can't rampage. You can't turn off your humanity. Our kids will need you. They will need their Mom to teach them how to control their powers and talk to their crushes. How to handle sibling fights. For you to drop them off at school and talk to them when they need you." Josie's voice is breaking as a couple tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "You can't abandon them. They will need you." I nod my head. I look back out to the water as Josie places her head on my shoulder. We both sit there looking over the water before I break the silence. I take a deep breath to hopefully steady my voice. "I promise."

Chapter 56:  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I sit on the edge of the dock for another hour not saying anything. We don't need words right now just each other. Eventually, I start to shift to stand up and Hope helps me. The pregnancy belly throws off my usual balance. "Ready to go back?" I nod my head. "Yeah, we need food so you don't get hangry." I am trying to lighten the mood and it works. Hope puts on a fake pouty face before a smile breaks across her face. "You know me so well."  
We get back to the house to find Davina, Kol, and Freya in our library reading book after book. Stacks of paper cover the ground. Hope pulls me closer to her dropping my hand so she can wrap her arm around my waist. "Find anything we can use?" Both Freya and Davina jump a little at Hope's voice. They couldn't hear us coming. "Well, we called Caroline and she doesn't remember what the spell was that they used but she still has the necklace that is spelled so that will get here tomorrow. Until then, we are trying to find alternative methods." Freya looks back down to her book and continues reading.  
Kol looks up from his book to make a comment. "Too bad we don't have another siphoner. Might be able to siphon some of the babies' abilities temporarily or to some how reverse siphon to give them the energy they want." Hope turns to me. "Do you know how to do that?" I'm not sure I have ever done it. "Let me try to give you some energy." Hope lets go of my waist and regrabs my hand. My hand lights up red. I do my best to will any magic into Hope. The babies have enough for me to siphon just a little from them to give to Hope. Kol looks amazed. Siphoners are extremely rare. He has probably never met one.  
Hope's hand glows red as some of my magic flows into her. "Davina, darling, look." Davina looks up from her book to see me transferring some magic to Hope. When I stop, both of our hands lose the red glow. "That is amazing. Wait, Hope, are you able to siphon? After you imprinted, I know we weren't sure if her abilities would transfer to you." Hope raises her hand and makes it glow red. Kol and Davina both grin wildly.  
Hope POV-  
"Babe, can you teach me how to do it?" I turn to Josie. "I can try, mostly I just focus on instead of pulling the magic out of something think of it like you want to will it forward with your mind." I nod my head.  
Josie lifts her shirt. I step forward and place my hand on her exposed belly. "Okay, so draw from yourself and then push it forward." Right, right push it forward. I close my eyes and focus on drawing from myself. I open my eyes and see my hand glowing red. Okay, push forward. I will the magic to leave my hand and go to the babies. I can feel it moving through my hand and down my fingers. It takes a second but Josie's stomach begins to glow. I can feel the magic flowing out of my hand. "You did it," Josie looks as shocked as I do. I stop and Josie's belly stops glowing.  
Josie POV-  
I can feel the magic flowing from Hope's hand and to the babies. They kick a little bit as she finishes. "That is amazing." Kol stands up and walks over to Hope. "How's it feel to siphon, dear niece?" I know she is excited to have this ability. "You can literally feel the energy transfer." Hope removes her hand from my stomach and wraps it back around me. "Hungry? Any cravings?" Hope gives me a quick kiss after asking. "Honestly, a vanilla milkshake and a burger sounds like heaven right now. I think our kids are going to want burgers every night with how often I crave them." Both of us laugh. "Burgers and milkshakes, it is."  
We spend the rest of the afternoon just laying on the couch together in our usual placement, me between Hope's legs and her hands wrapped around me interlocked with mine. We have the tv on but we aren't really watching it. Both of us have been in and out of sleep trying to recover from the past couple of tiring days. I let out a small sigh as Hope leans into my neck again. She does this every couple of minutes. I look down and see my stomach glowing red again. It has been happening more and more.  
Freya walks into the room and stops in her tracks. "Josie, you look a little pale, do you need anything?" Freya walks over to the fridge and grabs me a water. Hope lifts her head to get a better look at me. "Aunt Freya, what if I transfer energy to Josie? If the babies are taking it from her, can I just give her more?" She sits down in the chair next to us. "You can try it. It is worth a shot. That will probably work better than giving it to the twins directly." Hope closes her eyes and I watch as her hands glow red. My hands quickly turn red to match hers. I can feel the energy going between us. "There, a little color has returned to your face, Josie." Freya turns to look at Hope next. "If you need some more energy, let one of us know." Hope nods her head acknowledging Freya but I know she won't actually admit to anyone if she is feeling drained. That is definitely a perk of being surrounded by so many supernaturals though. There is an unlimited supply of magic.  
Hope POV-  
The rest of the afternoon Hope periodically transfer more energy to me. Josie and I head upstairs shortly after we finish eating dinner. We both brush our teeth and change before crawling into bed. I turn the light off and curl up with Josie. "How are you doing, Jo?" I can't see her face as well in the dark room as I would like. "I just feel tired. These kids are a handful and they haven't even been born yet. I told you, that's Mikaelson genes." I can see Josie smirk as she turns her head to look at me. "You love these Mikaelson genes, you married them I would just like to remind you." This makes Josie laugh. "Yes, yes I did." She rolls back over. I hear her breathing settle. It takes me a little longer to fall asleep but eventually I do.  
The room is glowing red as I blink open my eyes. The room is still dark telling me it is still night. I listen for Josie's breathing. It is slow, too slow. I reach over quickly and turn the side lamp light on. Josie's face is extremely pale. "Josie, wake up." I place my hand on her shoulder and lightly shove her. "Babe, wake up." She doesn't stir at all. "Josie!"

Chapter 57:  
Hope POV-  
"Josie! Come on wake up, babe." I start muttering to myself. I place both of my hands on Josie and start pushing magic. Kol bursts through the door. "What's wrong?" I don't say anything. He just sees me trying to focus. He rushes out again probably to get Aunt Freya. I close my eyes trying to concentrate.  
"Josie, wake up, wake up Josie, come on." Finally, my hands start to glow. "Push it forward. Come on, Hope." Aunt Freya runs into the room followed by Keelin. My entire face is scrunched together as I push, push everything I have in me into her. "Come on, come on, come on!" The room fills with the red glow. It is more intense than earlier.  
Aunt Freya begins to walk over towards Josie and my eyes flash gold. "Hope, I'm just going to check her pulse." I blink a couple of times shaking my head. My eyes turn back to blue. "She has a pulse, it is just weak." Aunt Freya takes a step back. I close my eyes again. My hands begin to glow red again as I give her everything.  
Aunt Freya or Keelin at some point turned on the overhead light. "Hope?" Josie's voice cuts through my concentration. I open my eyes and see Josie's eyes fluttering open. "Josie," I quickly pull her into me and don't let go. "Shhh, I'm okay, babe. I'm okay." I now notice the tears that are still streaming down my face. Josie turns her head enough to look at Aunt Freya. "What just happened?"  
Aunt Freya takes a seat on the edge of our bed. I still haven't let Josie go. I never plan on letting go. "You heart rate and breathing were very slow. Hope couldn't get you to wake up so she starting pushing energy to you." I bury my head into Josie's neck, my arms still wrapped tight around her. "Hope," Josie reaches her arm up to place it on the side of my head. "Look at me." I lift my head away from her neck only far enough for her to see my face. "I'm okay," she tilts her head down so our eyes are level. "I'm okay, Hope." I push my forehead against hers and just stay there. I shut my eyes to try and stop the tears.  
Josie POV-  
"Hope, do you need any more energy from one of us?" She shakes her head and pulls back so she can look up at Freya. "Okay, girls, come get us if you need anything else. Otherwise, we will see you in the morning." It was 4 in the morning. It took about 6 hours for the babies to start draining too much. Freya gets off the bed and walks out of the room with Keelin shutting the door and turning off the overhead light behind them.  
I push on Hope a little so she'll lay back down. She scoots back and places her back against the headboard instead. "Hope, you need to go back to sleep too." She shakes her head no. I know this isn't a fight I will win. I lay down on my side between her legs with my head in her lap, both of my arms wrapped around her waist. Hope places one hand on the back of my head and the other on my arm. She needed to be able to feel me. The side table light is still on but I am pretty sure Hope wants to be able to see if something changes in my face so she doesn't turn it off. I begin to drift off to sleep again.  
I wake up and can feel Hope lightly running her fingers through my hair. I turn my head to see she hasn't moved since I fell back asleep. "Did you get any more sleep?" It was stupid to ask because I knew she wouldn't. She shakes her head no. Hope finally speaks, "I kept putting energy into you about every hour to try and stay ahead of it. How are you feeling?" Hope's voice is raspy, tired. Her face is still blotchy, and she has deep bags under her eyes.  
"I am doing alright." She hums to my response. She hasn't taken her eyes off me. Hope's phone is next to her so I grab it to check the time. "8:10 am. Want to go get some food, babe?" She nods her head. We both climb out of bed and start to get ready.  
"Hey kiddos, here," Freya places two plates of food in front of us at the kitchen counter. She turns to me. "Josie, how are you feeling? Your parents should get here late afternoon." I take a bite out of my breakfast. Hope is still watching me. I reach out and place my hand on her thigh and say in my head, "I'm okay, Hope." She nods her head ever so slightly but doesn't drop the eye contact or say anything. I turn back to Freya. "I'm doing okay. Just tired. Pretty sure Hope didn't sleep anymore though." Freya turns to look at Hope. She shrugs her shoulders but doesn't say anything.  
After breakfast, I sit down on the couch in Hope's usual spot. She lays down between my legs this time. We have to adjust for the huge baby bump though. Hope lays her head on my leg and wraps her arms around me. Similar to how I laid on her last night. I start scratching back and forth between her shoulder blades. She presses into me more and lets out a sigh.  
"Hope, you should try to sleep some. I'm okay, I'm awake right now. I'm not going anywhere. If I need you, I can wake you." She doesn't say anything but places her hands on my sides. I can feel the slight heat as she transfers more energy into me. After about a minute, she stops and returns her arms to around my waist. But keeps her head up to look at me. "Are you sure?" I can see it in her face how badly she needs to sleep. She is draining herself to keep the babies at ease. "Yes, babe, go to sleep." She lays her head back down on my leg. It doesn't take long for her breathing to settle.

Chapter 58:  
Josie POV-  
I put on a movie but end up just watching Hope sleep instead. Every once in a while, my belly will glow and Hope will nuzzle her head against me. Freya walks into the room around dinner time. “Your parents just pulled in.” I nod my head and mouth a quiet “thank you” but don’t get up. Freya leaves the room.  
“Hope,” I start running my hands through her hair. “Hey babe, my parents are here.” Hope starts to stir. She pulls one of her hands away from my waist and starts to rub her eyes letting out a yawn. She lays her head back down against my leg. “I married a pretty comfy pillow.” We both giggle. “I am glad you got some sleep, now come on, let’s go see my parents.” Hope lets out a sigh then rolls off the couch out of my lap.  
“Hey Mom,” Caroline jumps out of the car and runs over to me engulfing me in a hug. “Oh sweetie, we got here as fast as we could.” Dad gets out of the car next. Mom lets go of me so I can hug Dad. “Hey Jo, how are you feeling?” They both went through Mom’s pregnancy with Lizzie and me so they are the most qualified to help us. I turn my head to see Hope watching me carefully. I nod my head towards her telling her to come over here. “Come here, babe.” I say in my head. Hope leans off the doorframe leading into the house and walks over to me placing her arm around my waist.  
Mom and Dad grab their suitcases out of the car and follow us inside. I sit down on the couch in the living room next to Hope. All of Hope’s family joins us after Freya shows my parents where they will be staying. When Mom comes back downstairs, she hands me a necklace. It has a large red gem. “This is the necklace a witch spelled for me. It should allow the twins to pull from it instead of you.” I take it from Mom and hand it to Hope. She clasps it around my neck. Mom takes a seat next to me on the couch. “Yeah, it has been a crazy twenty four hours.”  
Hope POV-  
Josie recounts our hectic night for her parents. All of my family sits quietly listening as well. I don’t think I would have been able to retell last night to anyone. It makes my heart race just thinking about it. Seeing Josie not moving, me shaking her screaming her name trying to get her to wake up. Josie finishes telling everyone and I look down realizing I have wrapped my arms around Josie a little tighter than before. I hear her in my head, “I’m okay, Hope, I’m right here.” I loosen up my grip a little. Caroline looks over at me with sympathy. She saw me when Josie was pushing me away. I know she can only imagine how I was last night.  
I feel Josie’s stomach begin to heat up then it glows. Caroline looks down. She hadn’t seen it glow yet. “Jo, can I feel?” Josie nods her head as Caroline places her hand on Josie’s belly. Just as quickly as Josie’s belly starts to glow it stops. The red gem around her neck begins to glow instead. “Perfect, it is working. Hope, that means you shouldn’t have to transfer Josie as much energy as before.” Caroline removes her hand from Josie’s belly. Aunt Freya stands up, “Anyone hungry?”  
I think both of us had forgotten that it is Christmas Eve. Aunt Freya has a huge spread of food on the table in our dining room. I must have slept through all the preparation. We all take a seat around the table. Josie sits to my right. Keelin sits to my left. We all sit around the table laughing and enjoying the rest of the night.  
Josie and I head upstairs to go to bed around 10:30 pm. Everyone made sure to tell us that if we need anything to just call out again. I finish getting ready first so I lay down with my back against our headboard again. Josie stands against the bathroom doorframe looking at me. “Are you really not going to sleep again, Hope?” I shake my head no. Josie walks over and lays down again between my legs. “Can we at least turn the light off?” I nod and reach over, pulling on the lamp chain.  
We both lay there in silence for a couple of minutes until the necklace around Josie’s neck begins to glow. “Hope?” Josie raises her head off my chest. “Yes?” I continue running my hand through her hair. “We’re going to be okay. We will get our eternity. I could feel you tense up earlier when I was talking about last night. I just wanted to say, I am sorry I scared you.” She lays her head back down against my stomach. “Jo, it is not your fault.” I know she feels guilty. When she pushed me away in Oregon, it was eating her up inside.   
“Hey, Jo,” I place my hand on her cheek so she will look up at me. Her eyes are teary. “Hey, come here,” I pull Josie closer to me so she is fully on top of me. I wrap my arms tightly around her. Josie begins to let it all out, crying into my shoulder. “Jo, we’re okay. You didn’t do it on purpose. The babies just started pulling too much from you. I didn’t hear the change in your heartbeat and breathing until I rolled over. I love you, babe. We are going to get through this.” Josie lets out a shaky breath and pulls away from my shoulder. “I love you, too.” I scoot down the bed so I am laying flatter, keeping Josie on top of me. She lays her head down into my neck, the tears have finally stopped. Josie’s hand is rubbing small circles on my shoulder. “Jo, it’s okay. Go to sleep.” After a minute or two, I feel her begin to drift off.  
Josie POV-  
I wake up to the light filtering through the window. I am still laying on top of Hope. I look down and can see she has dozed off. Her breathing is slow but her hands are still wrapped around my back. I close my eyes and place my head back down against her chest and listen to her heartbeat.  
Hope’s hand slowly moves down my back as her eyes flutter open. She jumps slightly at realizing she fell asleep; her eyes shoot open. “Shh, I’m okay, Hope.” Her eyes close again as a smile crosses her face. “Good morning,” I push myself up, pressing my lips against Hope’s. “Good morning, it’s Christmas Day, come on we need to go downstairs.” I roll off Hope, a huff leaving her lips. I am giddy. I have always loved Christmas. Hope rolls out of bed and vamps over to me wrapping her arms around me. “I have the most adorable wife.”

Chapter Fifty-Nine  
Hope POV-  
Josie runs down the stairs with me trailing closely behind her. "Babe, slow down, you're going to fall." I manage to catch her by the waist as we step into the living room. Josie grabs my hand and drags me to the couch where my family has left a spot for us. Kol looks to us, "Took you both long enough. We were wondering what took so long." He winks at Josie who blushes hard even though she knows nothing was going on. Alaric and Caroline both blush too at hearing Kol's comment. Neither one of them wanting to imagine Josie in bed with me. Davina smacks his shoulder.  
Nik helps pass out presents guided by Aunt Freya and Keelin. Most of the gifts Nik brings us are addressed to both Josie and me. We receive tons of baby stuff. Matching onesies and stuffed animals, a stroller and high chairs. I am distracted by Marcel and Aunt Bex when I hear Josie in my head. "Babe?" I turn my head to look at Josie. She is holding a small grey box with a small bow. There is a little tag on the box that reads "From: Jo, To: Hope." I take the box from her and untie the bow.  
When I pull the lid off, I find a small silver cuff bracelet. It reads "Always and Forever" along the top. I slip it onto my wrist and begin to feel the rhythmic thump thump. "Freya helped me spell it, now you can feel my heartbeat where ever you are. If you get tired of feeling it, you just have to run your finger across the Always and Forever and it will silence it. Run your finger along it again and you'll feel my heartbeat. It is also spelled to adjust to your wolf paw when you transition so you won't ever have to take it off. I'll always be with you." I pull Josie into me only releasing her because I really want to kiss her. "Babe, I love it." I lean in and Josie closes the distance quickly. The thumping from the bracelet increases. "Now, not only can I hear your heart but feel it too, thank you, Jo." I look over at Aunt Freya and mouth "thank you".  
Nik rushes over to me with another box. This one I recognize. He hands it to me and I place it in Josie's lap. The tag reads, "From: Hope, To: Jo." Josie picks it up and turns to me smiling. This girl loves Christmas so much. The box is about the same size as the one I received from Josie. She unties the bow and removes the lid. "You did not, Hope." She picks up a set of car keys with a keychain that says "She's Mine" on them. I pull my phone out. "I figured you would want to drive back with me so the car is at home. I open the picture up on my phone and hand it to Josie. "I figured you might want your own car instead of sharing mine with me. You can even blast our playlist. I already have it downloaded in the car." We still listen to the playlist almost every day but over the years we have added more and more songs to it. "I love it, you are the best, Hope. Thank you." I get pulled in for another hug.  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I sit back and watch as everyone else finishes opening their gifts. I keep spinning my new car keys around my finger making Hope laugh every time I spin them off my finger. "You haven't even driven the car yet and you are trying to lose the keys." I push myself into her meeting her halfway for another kiss. "It's okay, my wife will make sure I don't lose them." I pull back and wink at Hope before I nuzzle my head into her neck. I will never get tired of calling her my wife.  
Dad looks our way and asks Hope, "Did she like it?" I look up at Hope beaming. "Yes, yes she does." I look over to my parents who are talking to each other. They both seem so happy. "How did they know?" Hope turns her head to look at me. "I wanted to make sure you would like the color. I thought it was a nice color but just wanted to check. Lizzie gave approval and twin approval hasn't failed me yet. Also, your parents let me hide it at the school so I could surprise you." A huge smile forms on my face as I roll my eyes. "I like everything you get me, Hope." She pushes her head forward placing our foreheads together. "Good, because you're stuck with me and my gifts."  
I sit in Hope's arms the rest of the morning. We all just sit around talking about what we got and about future plans. "So, Hope and Josie, have you come up with any baby names yet?" Rebecca turns to us. Hope looks at me giving me the option to tell them or to wait. "You will get to find out when they are born. No one knows, only us. We want it to be a surprise." Rebecca makes the same fake pouty face that Hope gives me a lot but Rebecca nods her head. "Fine, fine. We will just have to suffer through not knowing." All of us laugh. "Soon enough." Hope adds.  
Most of Hope's family and mine head into the kitchen to help prepare the Christmas Day dinner. I nudge Hope's side. "Have you run since the first night we got here?" She shakes her head no. "How about we head to the bayou and you can run some? I can just wait for you at the dock or I can stay here. Whatever will make you most comfortable." Hope interlocks our hands and keeps her eyes on them not commenting and avoiding my eye contact. "Hope," she glances my way before looking back down at our hands so I ask in my head. "What is that beautiful head of yours thinking about?"  
Hope lets out a deep breath. No one is in the room but I know she would rather not have this conversation out loud. She always has an easier time opening up to me in her head. "I just don't want to leave your side, Jo. I know that you're okay but as much as I tell myself that, my wolf whines with just the thought of you leaving my sight right now. We already said we don't want to jostle the babies if you want to come with me which means you would have to leave my sight." Right on cue, her wolf lets out a very quiet whine. Hope's eyes flash gold. "You just proved my point that you could use a run, babe." A small laugh escapes my lips.  
Hope pulls me into her to hide her face. "You will still be able to feel my heartbeat when you are running, so it'll be okay. Do you want me to come or stay here?" No response. We both sit there for a minute just listening to the banging of pots and pans coming from the kitchen.  
Hope's voice cuts through my head. "I would rather you stay here so our families can keep an eye on you if that is alright with you. I'll get over this fear eventually but right now it is still just too fresh in my mind. I'm not trying to be controlling or clingy." I nod my head as Hope pulls her head out from behind me where she was attempting to hide it. I decide to speak out loud this time. "I know, babe. It is okay, now go get a run in before dinner. I will be waiting here for you." I stand up first so Hope can't procrastinate. I extend my hand out towards her. She takes it and we walk to the back door that leads to her car. Hope grabs the keys off the hook and I watch as she leaves only heading inside when I can no longer see her car.

Chapter Sixty-  
Hope POV-  
I make it back to the house after running. The sun is beginning to set. Josie's heartbeat never raised higher than normal my entire run. This was the perfect gift for me. The thumping on my wrist spikes quickly as I grab the door handle. I vamp into the house.  
I stop in the living room not finding anyone and continue to the kitchen. I rush in to find Josie and Kol laughing. Everyone else is moving around the kitchen with smiles on their faces. Josie looks over to me and sees my gold eyes and the worried expression on my face. She immediately walks over to me and takes my arm guiding me. I follow her up the stairs and to our room.  
Josie shuts the door behind us. She pulls my hand and walks me over to sit on the edge of our bed. "Babe, talk to me, what's wrong?" I blink my eyes a couple of times. The thumping on my wrist slows as Josie sees the blue return. "Your heart rate spiked, I just," I trail off. Josie grabs my hands. "Every time my heart rate spikes it doesn't mean something is wrong. It'll take time but you'll be able to tell the difference soon between normal and abnormal ranges." I nod my head.  
Josie is rubbing circles on my hands. "Go shower and meet us downstairs. Dinner should be ready when you are done." Josie stands up to let me shower in peace. "Want to join me?" I stand up and vamp to stand in front of her, a smirk on my face. "Hope, our families will know what we are doing." I can feel her heartbeat increasing in speed. "You should tell your heart then that you don't want to." I place my hand on her waist pulling her closer to me. "That's not fair. You're cheating." Josie tries to fake pout before leaning into me placing both of her hands against my face. She pulls me in closer, grazing her lips across mine before stopping. "Go shower, we can continue this later." Josie drops her hands from my face and begins to strut away. "Mrs. Saltzman-Mikaelson, I stand by what I have said for the past couple of years. You are my greatest weakness and a huge tease." Josie winks at me before slipping out our bedroom door.  
Josie POV-  
I walk down the stairs. Keelin stops me before I can enter the kitchen. "Is Hope doing okay?" She places one hand on my shoulder. Freya walks out of the kitchen and stands next to Keelin. "Yeah, she felt my heart spike when I was laughing with Kol and she freaked out a little. We talked. She is better." Both of them nod. Freya speaks next. "We saw her eyes flash gold again. Her wolf is acting possessive, isn't it?" I slowly nod my head.  
I shift between my feet, "Is that normal? It has spiked with the pregnancy and then after the other night after the incident," I trail off not sure how to continue. Freya notices my hesitation. "Yes, it is normal. Any time I am injured or sick, Keelin's wolf becomes more possessive." Keelin tags in to speak. "The imprint is only going to make these feelings stronger. As long as you help reassure Hope that you are okay, you shouldn't have any major issues. After the pregnancy, the intensity should decrease."  
Hearing this makes me feel better. I know Hope won't hurt me. I am more worried about what might happen if I can't stop her.  
The three of us rejoin everyone in the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, Hope joins us.  
The next couple of days, Hope shows me around New Orleans more. We go to the Cafe Du Monde to get beignets, we walk down the French Quarter, and we go on a date night at the bayou similar to to night that she proposed to me. Each day, the twins begin to pull more and more energy that the necklace can not handle it. Both Hope and I are feeling quite drained every lately. Hope pushes energy into me and the twins drain it. We know the day is coming soon. The more the twins siphon, the faster they grow.  
Finally, it is New Year's Eve. Hope's family is planning a party to celebrate. Hope, my parents, and I are planning on heading back to Virginia the 2nd.  
Hope POV-  
The Mikaelson family knows how to throw a party. We decorate the house with lights and streamers. They are keeping it small though this year, just our family and Josie's parents. "Alright Hope, let's get this night started!" Kol brings me over a drink before walking away towards Davina. I turn to look at Josie, "Do you mind if I drink some?" She shakes her head no. "Go ahead, babe."  
Josie POV-  
I tell Hope that she can drink. Honestly, I find her so funny when she drinks. She laughs and smiles more. Hope is already super affectionate but it only increases when she drinks alcohol. Everyone else gets to see what I see every day, why I love her. It is about 11:30 pm now. 30 minutes until the new year.  
Hope runs over to me after finishing her conversation with Rebecca. "Hey, Jo," she pulls me into her from behind wrapping her arms around me. "I missed you." She places her head against my neck. I can feel her grinning. "I missed you too, Hope. How are you feeling?" She lets me go so I can face her.  
"Really great. Aunt Bex was telling me about her future plans with Marcel for traveling Europe. We should travel Europe. We have plenty of eligible babysitters or the kids can come with us. We only went to the Bahamas for 10 days for our honeymoon." Hope is smiling wildly as she continues, "I just want to spend the rest of my life with you. Anywhere with you and I am happy." She gets so sappy when she drinks. "Of course, Hope. I'm not going anywhere." Hope spins me around so she can wrap her arms around me again. She places one hand on my stomach so she can feel the babies. Hope places her chin on my shoulder so she can look out at everyone around us.  
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!" Hope pulls me into her and passionately kisses me, her eyes flash gold. Everyone around is kissing their significant other. Even Mom gives Dad a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you," Hope keeps her hands wrapped around me. "I love you, too."  
Hope POV-  
My head definitely feels heavier. I've been enjoying myself. Every time I look at Josie, I just feel so happy. We do the countdown for New Years and I pull Josie into me, kissing her hard. The thumping on my wrist increases. When we separate, I look into her eyes. "I love you." Josie smiles big at me. "I love you, too."  
Josie helps me get upstairs because I keep stumbling a little bit. "Babe, I don't want to go to bed, I want to stay up with you." Josie leads me to the bathroom so I can brush my teeth. When I finish, she walks me to my side of the bed. "I'm going to go to bed too, babe. Our babies need sleep." Josie brushes her teeth then lays down next to me. "You're right," I look over at her and pout. "Soon enough, we can have all nighters. Once the babies go to sleep, you're all mine." Josie starts to giggle. "Okay, babe." She leans over me to place a water bottle next to my side of the bed and turns off the light before laying down against my side. She wraps her arm across my stomach as she nuzzles her head into my shoulder, her belly pressed against me.  
I run my hand along Josie's back lightly scratching. "You know the song Unbelievable by Why Don't We? You were in my heart, you were in my bed, now you wake up in my bed." I look down at Josie who is grinning. She squeezes my side. "You are adorable. That song is from our playlist, babe. Now, go to bed, you need sleep." Josie's breathing begins to slow as does the thumping I feel in the bracelet. I fall asleep with a huge smile on my face.  
Josie POV-  
I roll over in the morning and feel a little sick, my shirt is stuck to my skin with sweat. Hope is still sleeping. I look down and can see my stomach glowing instead of the necklace. "Hope," I am still spooning her so I place my hand on her cheek and rub small circles. "Hope, wake up." My voice sounds raspy, forced. Her eyes flutter open, "I'm up." She looks down at me and her eyes open wide. "Josie, sit up. Freya!" She calls out from our room. I do as Hope says and she locks her hands in mine. Both of our hands start to glow as she transfers energy to me.  
Freya runs in to our room rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Everyone was drinking last night, everyone but me and yet I am the one who feels sick. Beads of sweat begin to roll down my face. Freya gives me one look and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She dials a number. "Yes, we are heading there now, see you soon." She turns to Hope. "Pack an overnight bag. I'll get everyone else. Josie is going to need to have the babies today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.


	7. Endgame

Chapter Sixty One-  
Josie POV-  
I push myself back so that my back is against the bed frame. I don't feel strong enough to keep myself upright without it. Hope jumps out of bed. She is running around packing some clothes for me and changing into sweats. "Okay, Jo, arms up." Hope walks over with a new shirt since I have soaked mine. She helps me put the new shirt on.  
Hope grabs both of my hands to help me slide out of the bed. I stumble a little, "I got you." Hope wraps one arm around my waist and with her other, grips my hand. We slowly climb down the stairs and head out to the car. Freya is already in the drivers seat. Hope lifts me into the backseat before vamping to the other side to sit next to me.  
"Alright, we are going to go to the local hospital. My friend already has a wing of the hospital ready for you. Kol and Davina left a little ahead of us with Rebecca and Marcel. Your parents are right behind us." Hope turns her head to see the familiar car tailing us. Freya looks at Hope in the rear view mirror. "Have you transferred any energy to her today?" Hope nods. "Right before you came into our room. I can do a little more." She nods before turning her eyes back to the road.  
Freya pulls into the front of the hospital where Davina is waiting with a wheelchair for Josie. Hope gets out first then walks around to my side. She easily picks me up and places me in the wheelchair. Davina takes a step back so Hope can push. We begin to follow Davina towards my room. Hope pushes me into an elevator and hits the button for floor 3. She pushes me into room 320.  
Hope lifts me out of the wheelchair and places me in the bed. Nurses rush over and begin attaching the leads to check my heart rate. They place the little clip on my finger to check oxygen level. Hope looks up at the screen and tries to hide her expression. She looks back down at me. Her eyes flash gold. "I'm okay, Hope everything is going to work out." She nods her head blinking away the gold, the blue returns. The nurse attaches the nose tube to the oxygen in the wall then wraps it around my face placing it against my nose. Hope is still just standing next to me holding my hand. I give it a squeeze. "Babe, sit down." She hesitates before pulling a chair over next to me.  
Hope POV-  
I grab a chair and sit it as close to Josie's hospital bed as possible. I reach up placing one of my hands against Josie's head and with the other, I grab her hand. She leans into my hand closing her eyes. Caroline and Alaric walk into the room. "Hey sweetie, how are you doing?" Both of them stand next to the other side of the bed. "I'm okay, Mom." They both stand there another minute longer until a female doctor walks into the room. Alaric and Caroline take a step back to allow the doctor to reach Josie.  
"Hi Josie, my name is Dr. Bowers. I will be performing your C-section today." She waves her hand at the nurses to leave. They shut the door. "Freya has informed me of your special situation. I just wanted to let you know that we will do everything in our power to help you. Only hand selected individuals will be allowed to enter this room. All of who know of your case." I look to Josie who nods her head. "Thank you. When are you wanting to start?" Dr. Bowers checks Josie's chart. "This afternoon is the plan. Here is a call button, if you need anything, just hit this button. I will be back later to check on you." She hands Josie the buzzer and walks out of the room.  
All of our family walks in and out of the room to get food and coffee but I don't leave Josie's side. She grabs the remote and turns on a movie for us to watch. Her face is still pale but I keep transferring energy to her every time the room empties out. Josie's eyes close as her heartbeat settles, falling asleep. Her belly begins to glow again. I lean down closer to the babies. "Alright kids, you're going to come out today. Your mom and I are so excited to meet you. You just have to stay in there a little bit longer." I can hear their heartbeats increase at hearing my voice. I've been trying to talk to them throughout the pregnancy, I think Josie has been too.  
Aunt Freya walks back into the room. Keelin stayed home with Nik. "Hey kiddo, how is she doing?" She whispers to me as she takes a seat against the wall. "I think she's okay. I keep transferring energy to her." Aunt Freya is looking at my face. I know I look tired. "Hope, why don't you see if you can sleep at all. I'll stay right here." I nod my head. Exhaustion is taking over. I lean my head down onto the side of Josie's bed and place my hand on her belly. I fall asleep to the steady beating of Josie's heart thumping from the bracelet.  
Freya POV-  
Hope lays her head down on Josie's bed. Alaric and Caroline walk in after a couple of minutes and take a seat next to me in the hospital chairs. Both of the girls look so peaceful sleeping. Josie's eyes begin to flutter open as she looks down at Hope asleep and smiles. She places her hand on Hope's head slowly stroking it. No words are spoken. Josie's belly begins to glow again but this time it doesn't stop after a couple of seconds or even a minute. The color in Josie's face drains as she looks over at us. "Freya," she mumbles as her eyes roll to the back of her head.

Chapter Sixty Two-  
Hope POV-  
I wake up quickly to the sound of the monitor screaming. I jump up and look to Josie. Her face is extremely pale. Freya is beside me. "Her eyes just rolled to the back of her head. Give her blood. I'll get the doctor." Without hesitation I bite my wrist and bring it to Josie's lips. I will not lose her.  
Dr. Bowers comes running into the room. "We need to do the C section now." Three nurses run in behind her and unlock the bed so it can roll. Freya grabs Davina and follows us down the hall. If the doctor can't cut into Josie's belly we might need to use magic to coax the babies out. A nurse throws Davina, Aunt Freya, and me scrubs to put on. Normally, we would not be allowed to go back with Josie but this is not a normal situation.  
They roll Josie into a surgery room and quickly prepare it. One of the nurses inserts pain relief and knock out medicine into Josie's IV. I go and stand by her head. I start speaking to her. "Okay, Jo, it's going to be okay. I promise." The blood appears to have helped a little bit but she is still unresponsive. Eventually, Dr. Bowers reaches for the scalpel.  
She tries to make the incision. The blade won't even slice. "Dammit, okay Hope, Davina, come here." Freya walks over to stand next to Josie. "We need to do the same thing the witches did for Caroline. The twins don't want to come out to a non magic environment. Repeat after me." Freya begins a spell. It spreads out filling the room with magic, it feels electric. Davina and I join in on the spell.  
Dr. Bowers attempts to make the incision again. The knife cuts through. "Okay, just keep going, we will be done soon." I close my eyes trying to focus. Freya turns to me after a minute and nods her head to step away. I let go of her hand and then hear it. The cry of one of my kids. The nurse wraps the baby and turns to hand it to me. "It's a boy." Tears begin to fill my eyes. I look down at his beautiful face. When the nurse places him in my arms, he stops crying. He has a full head of brown hair and piercing blue eyes. "Hi Elijah James, it's so nice to finally meet you." He reaches out grabbing ahold of my finger.  
Aunt Freya and Davina stop chanting. The nurse is wrapping my other child. I turn to Aunt Freya. "Here, this is Elijah James Saltzman-Mikaelson." She carefully takes him from me with a huge smile on her face. I turn back to the nurse. "It's another boy." We had twin boys. This is perfect.  
The nurse places him in my arms. He stops crying the same as his brother did when he looks up at me. He has brownish red hair and brown eyes that match Josie's. "It's so nice to meet you Nicolas Kol." He cocks his head at hearing my voice. I offer my finger and he takes it. Davina leans over my shoulder. "What is his name?" I turn around so she can see him. "Nicolas Kol Saltzman-Mikaelson."  
The nurses take the boys back from us to go take vitals and give bathes. I follow them unable to let myself leave them. Both boys have been quiet since I held them. When we place them in the water, they close their eyes appearing to enjoy the warmth. We get them all wrapped up again. The nurse helps me arrange them so I can hold both at the same time. She takes me back to Josie's room. I walk in to see Josie blinking open her eyes. All of our family is standing around waiting. I walk over to Josie's bed. "Hey babe, how are you doing? Ready to meet our kids?" She nods her head, eyes wide open. I can feel her heartbeat increase a little.  
I lean over and hand her Elijah. "This is Elijah James and this is Nicolas Kol." All of our family quietly gushes at their names. Josie holds onto Elijah as I stand with Nicolas. All of our family comes over to meet them. Dr. Bowers comes in to check on Josie. "How are you feeling Josie?" She nods her head. "So much better, thank you again." Dr. Bowers nods her head. "I will be back to check on you later. We should be able to discharge you tomorrow." I turn to her. "Thank you."  
After everyone gets to meet our boys I speak up, "I think Josie could use some rest now." They all take the hint and shuffle out of the room to go find food or caffeine. Josie scoots over on the bed so I can sit down next to her. We trade kids. Josie is smiling down at Nicolas. "He has your hair color and Elijah has your eyes." I can see what she means but counter her point. "Yeah but Nicolas has your eyes and Elijah has your hair. Our kids are perfectly split between our features." Both of us sit quiet for a second, the boys both begin to fall asleep in our arms. They reach out grabbing each other's hand.  
I turn to Josie. "I was thinking about nicknames earlier. How about Eli and Nico?" Josie's face lights up. "I love those. Our boys have some powerful names." I lean down careful to avoid waking our boys and kiss Josie. "I love you." She leans forwards kissing me again. "I love you, too."

Chapter Sixty Three-  
Josie POV-  
The nurses bring in two of the plastic baby holders for tonight. Hope slips off the bed and places Elijah down in one. She comes back around and takes Nicolas from me and places him in the other. Hope stands there watching our boys and says, "Who knew you could love something so much, so quickly." Hope smiles back at me as she crawls back into my bed. She wraps her arm around my shoulders as I scoot down the bed a little so I could lay in the crook of her shoulder. "I fell in love with you when I first met you." I tilt my head back so I could see her reaction. "This is why I married you." Hope leans down and gives me a kiss on the lips.  
Hope digs around in her pocket pulling out her headphones. She plugs it into her phone and places one of them in my ear, the other in her ear. "I need you to know, I might make mistakes, I might change my ways but I'll never let go, I'll never let go, we might fight some time, I might lose my mind but I'll never let go." Love's a Waste by Sody. This was a recent add to our playlist.  
I begin to nuzzle my head into Hope right as the boys start to wake up crying. "Here I got them." Hope pulls out her earbud and walks over to them. She picks up Elijah first and begins to rock him back to sleep but it doesn't quiet him. Nicolas is crying out too, reaching towards the sky. "Babe, try placing them in the same container." Hope turns to look at me before walking over to Nicolas. She reaches down carefully sliding him over to give room for Elijah. As soon as she lies him down with his brother, they both stop crying. They turn towards each other, curling up together.  
Hope walks back over and lays down next to me like before. "How did you know that would work?" I think back to stories Mom used to tell me of Lizzie and me. "They have spent the past 9 months together and suddenly they are separated. They just want to be close to each other." Hope hums in response and leans her head against mine putting back in the earbud.  
Hope POV-  
I wake up in the middle of the night and see Nicolas stirring a little. I slip out from under Josie and walk over to him. He lifts his little arms towards me and stars at me with his big brown eyes. I pick him up and place a stuffed animal next to Elijah so he doesn't wake up. I pull Nicolas close to me his head resting against my upper shoulder and neck. "Hey Nico, why can't you sleep?" His hand grabs ahold of the collar of my shirt. "Yeah, guess you've got my sleeping abilities, huh?" I laugh silently to myself. I stand there slightly rocking back and forth humming songs from Josie's and my playlist until I hear his breathing slow down again. I walk back over to where Elijah is and remove the stuffed animal, laying Nicolas back down next to his brother.  
The next morning, one of the nurses walks into the room. I hear her coming and open my eyes. When she opens the door, I lightly rub Josie's shoulder to wake her. "Hi, I'm just here to help show you how to nurse the babies." I nod my head. Josie yawns as I roll out of bed. "I'm going to go get us some coffee, Jo, I'll be back okay?" She nods at me as the nurse picks up Elijah.  
As I'm walking to the cafeteria, I run into Caroline and Alaric who are headed towards Josie's room. "Hey Hope, how was last night?" I can't help but smile when I think about how cute my boys are. "They actually slept most of the night. Nico stirred a little but I just rocked him back to sleep. I'm just going to get coffee. They are teaching Jo how to nurse right now." Caroline nods her head but Alaric answers. "We'll come with you."  
The three of us get coffee and I grab some for Josie. She will appreciate getting to drink caffeine again. We walk back upstairs, and I pop my head into the room to see if Josie and the nurse are done. I open the door the rest of the way after seeing just Josie and the boys. "Hey sweetie, just came to see if you need anything before we head back to Virginia." I forgot that it was the 2nd. They both have to get back to start prepping for the new school year. Josie turns to look at me for confirmation. "I think we are good, unless you can think of anything, Hope?" I shake my head no. "Okay well then, I want to say goodbye to my grandkids." Caroline rushes over and takes Elijah out from the container. Alaric picks up Nicolas. I walk over towards Josie and hand her the coffee. "Thank you."  
Caroline and Alaric place the boys back in the container and walk over to hug Josie. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call us." Josie nods her head before Caroline and Alaric turn to me. "That means you too Hope. Call us if you need something." They pull me in for a hug as well. When they let go, I open the door for them. "We will see you in a couple of days." I close the door behind them and turn to Josie. "How'd it go?" Her face scrunches up. "Kinda weird, kinda hurts but it's all worth it." I walk over and give her a kiss. "Will you hand me one of the boys?" Josie points to them. "Sure," I walk over and pick up Elijah handing him to Josie. I pick up Nicolas. "We make cute kids." I turn to Josie who laughs. "Yes, we do, babe."  
We sign the papers for Josie and the boys to be released from the hospital. Aunt Freya meets us outside with the car. She has the boys' brand new car seats strapped into the back. "Josie do you want to sit up front with Aunt Freya or between the boys?" I open the right car door and begin to strap in Nicolas. "I'll sit up front if you don't mind." I shake my head no. "Not at all." I finish strapping in Nicolas then crawl through sitting between the two seats. Josie places Elijah into his car seat then moves to sit in the front passenger seat. Aunt Freya begins to pull away from the hospital.  
"Jo, what day do you want to leave now? Since we planned on leaving today." Josie turns her head to look at me. Nicolas and Elijah both are holding one of my fingers. Josie pulls out her camera and quickly takes a picture as I give her a look. "How about tomorrow? But we do the drive in two days. You and I are still recovering from these two little siphoners." Josie puts her phone down and looks between the boys and smiles. "Sounds good. We can pack the car tonight. We should have everything we need. Just have to set everything up when we get back to our house." Josie nods her head then turns back to look towards the road with Aunt Freya.  
When we get home, the boys start getting fussy again. "Hope, they are probably hungry. Come help me?" I follow Josie up the stairs carrying Elijah. He is staring up at me with his blue eyes, quiet now, so Josie nurses Nicolas first then we trade. We head back downstairs and run into Keelin. "Oh my gosh, finally I get to meet them." She rushes over as I hand her Nicolas. "This is Nicolas Kol and that is Elijah James." I point towards Josie. Keelin begins to rock him. He reaches up opening and closing his hand.  
Once Keelin has met both boys, we sit down on the couch. Nicolas is asleep on my shoulder and Elijah is just staring up at Josie. His eyes begin to close. I turn towards Josie and whisper, "I think Nico inherited my poor sleeping habits." She looks confused. "What do you mean?" Nicolas begins to stir. He grabs ahold of the collar of my shirt again. Josie starts talking in my head. "I see what you mean. Eli is out." We can both already see what behaviors the boys take after from us. I shift Nicolas to my other shoulder so Josie can lean her head against me. "Yep, that is a standard Josie characteristic." Josie nudges her head against me. "You love me." I nod my head slightly, careful not to wake Nicolas. "That is why I married you."  
Josie POV-  
Hope and I strap our boys into their car seats then say goodbye to all of Hope's family. We packed the car last night with the new cribs, high chairs, clothes, and double stroller. Hope jumps into the drivers seat. I connect my phone and start playing our playlist through the radio. The babies fall asleep quickly in the car. Hope reaches over and interlocks our hands as I lean my head against the window and fall asleep.  
Hope squeezes my hand. "Hey babe, Nico is stirring, if you give him that stuffed animal he will probably go back to sleep." I nod my head and reach behind Hope's seat to grab the white wolf stuffed animal similar to what Hope looks like as a wolf. Nicolas sticks his arm out towards me as I place the wolf next to him in the car seat. He grabs onto it holding onto it tight with his little hand. His eyes slowly begin to close again.  
I turn back around as Hope grabs my hand, she glances over at me to explain. "He woke up that night at the hospital so I picked him up. He grabbed ahold of my collar as I hummed to him. When I laid him back down with Eli, he fell right back asleep." I look over at Hope. "You're such a good mom, Hope. Speaking of which, what are we going to have the boys calling us to differentiate?" A huge smile forms on Hope's face. "Well every time I talked to the boys while you were sleeping, I called you Momma." This makes me smile hard. "You talked to them while I was sleeping?" Hope nods her head. "I talked to them, too. I always referenced you as Mama." Hope grins. "Guess that settles that." She gives my hand a squeeze. I can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with her.

Chapter Sixty Four-  
Hope POV-  
The boys are now 14 months old. Both of them can now walk. Nicolas comes walking around the corner of the kitchen with Elijah and Josie trailing close behind. Both of the boys are only wearing diapers. I pick up Nicolas swinging him up into my arms. "What are you doing, Nico?" He grabs ahold of the collar of my shirt like he always does and begins to giggle. Elijah grabs ahold of my leg. Josie stops walking and puts her hand on her hip watching us. "Boys weren't ready to get dressed so they can go to their grandparents house." I look back down at Nicolas. "Don't you want to see your grandparents?" I reach down and ruffle Elijah's hair as he looks up at me too. "Come on Nico, Eli, let's go upstairs." I lift Elijah up so I am holding both of my boys. I stop next to Josie and kiss her before walking up the stairs, Josie right behind us.  
We get the boys changed and fill a small suitcase with everything Alaric and Caroline could need. Today is Josie's 20th birthday. She wants to become a vampire tonight. Alaric and Caroline offered to take the boys for the long weekend so I can help Josie adjust. We grab the boys and load them into the car.  
"Thank you again, Mom and Dad." Josie gives them each a hug. Caroline turns to me when Josie is hugging Alaric. "If you need anything, give me a call. Don't worry about the boys. They will be fine. Do you have enough blood bags?" I nod my head yes. "Thank you, Caroline. I'll give you a call tomorrow." Josie steps back from the door and grabs my hand as we walk towards the car.  
Josie POV-  
Hope drives us home then runs around the car to open my door for me. I unbuckle my seatbelt as Hope picks me up carrying me into the house. "Babe, what are you doing?" I can't help but giggle at how cute she is. "This is the first time you and I have had alone for a very long time without the boys." She leans down and kisses me before sitting down on the couch with me laid across her lap. "You going to tell me your plan for the day?" Hope shakes her head no.  
"It's a surprise." I nuzzle my head into her shoulder and wrap my arms around her neck. "Oh come on, just tell me." I had told Hope I want her to turn me tonight. Both of us are happy with our family of four. I don't see the point in waiting any longer. I finally wore down Hope enough to agree. I look up at Hope with the biggest puppy dog eyes I can muster. "Fine, I figured we can go enjoy a nice dinner at your favorite restaurant then come back and movie night." I squint my eyes a bit, she left something out. "And oh yeah, you want me to turn you." I smile up at her. "Sounds perfect."  
Hope looks down at me. "You can still back out of this Jo, we still have two more years." Hope runs her hand up and down my side holding me against her. "I'm already older than you now, that is all that matters." I lean up and press my lips against hers, hungrily. Hope pulls back after a minute. "Why do you care that you are older than me?" A smirk crosses my lips as Hope cocks her head at me waiting for my response. "It means I'm more mature and always right. More life experience." Hope stands up lifting me with her. "Hmm, why don't you come share some of this life experience with me?" She starts walking up the stairs carrying me into our room.  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I get back from the restaurant and change out of our clothes and into sweats. I turn on the tv in the living room waiting for Josie to come back downstairs. Eventually, I hear her coming. "Okay, Hope, let's do this." I look between the movie I just put on and Josie. "Come on, babe. Let's watch the movie first."  
Josie walks over and sits down in my lap like earlier. "We could watch it after." She doesn't know what she is about to experience, the overstimulation and the blood lust. "Jo," I close my eyes and let out a sigh. "Okay, go get me a cup." Josie jumps up and grabs a cup from the kitchen handing it to me. I bite my hand and let the blood flow into the cup. I probably fill it 3/4 of the way before my hand heals. "I have to drink all of this?" Josie continues to look at the cup of blood before locking eyes with me. "If you want me to kill you, I want as much of my blood in you as possible." Josie takes the cup from me and begins to drink. "Fine."  
Josie finishes the cup and sets it down on the side table next to us. "It's gone." She stands up and grabs my hand pulling me to my feet. "Jo, do you even realize how hard this is? I don't want to kill you. Look, you know I'll live. Come on, snap my neck." I step forward towards Josie egging her on. "Hope." Josie lifts her hands and places them on my waist. "There is no reason for me to." We stand there for a second. "See, you won't do it. This is hard, babe." Josie nods her head. "Okay, I get it. But Hope, I want our eternity. This is how we get it. You only have to do it once." Her eyes are pleading with me. I lean forward closing the distance between us and kiss her. "I love you." Josie smiles as I place my hands against the sides of her head. "I love you, too." Then I feel it in my neck as I snap Josie's.

Chapter Sixty Five-  
Hope POV-  
Josie's body goes limp threatening to crumble to the floor as I catch her. I carefully sit down and place her head in my lap. Now, I just have to sit and wait for her to wake up. I stay there lightly running my fingers along her cheek until I feel the beating of Josie's heart come back to my bracelet. Her eyes shoot open as she takes in a deep breath of air.  
"Hope," Josie reaches her hand up, grabbing ahold of my hand. "Hey Jo, how are you feeling?" I haven't truly experienced the stinging, burning sensation in my throat in a while since I learned how to control it but I can feel it from the bond. Josie reaches up with her other hand and rubs at her neck. She sits up. "I'll grab you a blood bag, Jo." I stand up and walk over to the fridge. Josie's eyes stay on me the entire time. "Here," I hand her the bag as she rips off the cap and places it into her mouth. Her eyes ripple and turn black.  
When she finishes the bag, she turns to look at me. She blinks a couple of times before her eyes turn back to brown. Josie rushes forward jumping into me. She wraps her arms around my neck. I try not to ruin the moment but breathing is getting harder with how strong Josie is holding onto my neck. "Hey, uh, Jo, can't, breathe." Josie lets go quickly and pulls back her arms. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Her face is filled with concern. "Yeah babe, you just are a lot stronger now than before so keep that in mind. Remember? I ripped off a couple of doors with the new strength when I turned." She nods her head. Josie stands there for a second before looking down to her hands. She closes her eyes and I can tell she is trying to concentrate. Her hands begin to glow red. "Hope, I did it. I siphoned from myself." I can feel how excited she is. She is radiating.  
I extend my hand to her. "Want to go test a couple of things out?" She nods her head and carefully places her hand in mine. I grab my car keys off the counter. "Now Jo, don't rip off my car door." I shoot her a serious look as we both laugh. She carefully opens the door and slides into my car. I start the drive to school.  
"Hope, what is that sound?" The radio is off and the windows are rolled up but I can hear what she means. I focus in on it. "Car engine I think. You'll learn to tune stuff out eventually." Josie nods her head. I know it's irritating her. We park in the faculty school parking lot and get out of the car. I grab Josie's hand and guide her out to the open field like she did with me all those months ago. I stop walking and take a step back. "Okay Jo, run."  
Josie POV-  
Hope walks me out to the open field behind the school. "Okay Jo, run." She is doing the exact same thing with me as I did with her when she turned. I turn around with my back to Hope and can see the tree line maybe two football field lengths away. I take one step forward and blink. When I turn around Hope is far away. I speak to her in my head so I don't have to yell. "This is amazing, Hope." I can see her nod her head, a huge smile forming on her face. I lean forward and begin to run back when I get stopped midway.  
Blood. I can smell it from here. My eyes begin to ripple. My throat begins to scream at me. "Josie," Hope vamps over to me and places both of her hands on the sides of my shoulders. "Look at me." I know she can feel it too. I bet I could push Hope over and make it to the school before she can even react. As soon as I step forward to run, Hope jumps towards me and wraps her arms around me with enough force that she pushes both of us down to the ground. "Hope, let me go!" I might have vampire strength now, but she has the combined strength of a vampire and werewolf. "Not until your eyes change back. Some kid just sliced his finger in the kitchen that is it. Concentrate on me." Hope has me pinned in the grass. I try to push against her but I have no leverage. I swallow hard and close my eyes willing them to go back to brown. I blink a couple of times. "There's my wife's beautiful eyes." Hope loosens her grip and lets me sit up.  
She pulls me into her both of us just sitting in the middle of the empty field. I let out a small sigh. "So that's what you meant by blood lust." Hope places her head on top of mine wrapping her arms tight around me. I can feel every single part of Hope's body that is touching me. It is calming. "Hope, what about our boys? I can't do this around them." The gnawing in my throat is still there but not as bad as before. "We can do blood training tomorrow and Sunday before we pick them back up from your parents." I nod my head. "This is why we planned for your parents to take them all weekend so you can have some adjustment time. You also will need to learn how to control the hypersensitivity." We sit in silence just staring at the open field and the starry sky.  
"Tell me what you can see, feel, hear." I close my eyes to focus. "The wind whipping through the trees behind us. I can hear a couple of kids moving around the school hallways. And there is a bug somewhere that won't shut up." I grit my teeth. Normally, stuff like this wouldn't irritate me this much, but I feel like I have less control of my emotions right now. "Jo, release the breath of air you are holding." I sigh. Hope leans in to whisper in my ear. "You are feeling all of your emotions very strongly right now. Take a deep breath. You are okay." I can feel her breathing lightly on my neck. The sound of Hope's voice in my ear though makes my heart speed up. I know she can feel it too. I lean my head back so I can look at her. "Is everything heightened?" A smirk crosses my face. My emotions are all over the place. First, I feel frustration and anger then sadness but now, now I just want to take Hope right here in this field.  
Hope nods her head. I stand up suddenly and grab her hand. I start dragging her back to the car. "Babe, where are we going?" I don't say anything. We get back to the car and I turn to Hope. "Home. Time for Round 2."

Chapter Sixty Six-  
Josie POV-  
Hope's arms are wrapped around me tight. She radiates even more body heat without clothes but I don't mind. I can feel her breath blowing slightly on my neck sending chills down my back. Her hands are lightly wrapped around me, her fingertips grazing my skin. The fan is clicking every couple of seconds and something downstairs is buzzing. I can feel Hope's heart beating against my back.  
She starts to rotate a little pulling me closer to her. A small sigh escapes her lips. "Jo, why are you up?" I know, it is the middle of the night. It is very rare that I wake up in the middle of the night. Normally, Hope is the one waking up. "I don't know, just feeling, everything." Hope leans into my neck grazing her lips across my skin. My head tilts back at her touch. "Take a deep breath, Jo, focus on blocking it out. I know the tv downstairs buzzes and the fan creaks but you can block it out." I close my eyes and let out a deep breath. Hope nuzzles her face further into my neck. "Focus on me, Jo."  
Block it out. Block it out. Hope hums slightly. I can feel the vibrations against my skin. It resonates throughout me. I focus on Hope completely and finally, I stop hearing the tv and the fan. "It worked." I can feel Hope's lips move into a smile against my neck. I scoot myself back along the bed so that my entire body is pressed into Hope. All I want to do, is be as close as I can to her. Hope's breathing slows as she falls back asleep. I keep the sounds blocked out as I close my eyes focusing on Hope's breathing before I fall asleep.  
Hope POV-  
Josie is still asleep when I wake up. I nuzzle my head into her neck knowing she loves it. Her eyes begin to flutter open as she grabs ahold of my hand. "Did you get back to sleep, Jo?" She nods her head yes. We stay there enjoying each other's company for another ten minutes before Josie starts to stir. "Blood training today?" She leans her head back to look at me. I nod. "Whenever you are ready." She rolls out of my arms and stands up to change into different clothes. I follow suit and change meeting her downstairs.  
Josie makes for the fridge to grab some blood bags. "Jo, only have one okay? We want to truly test you." Her head drops as she hands me the other bags to bring with us. I grab my car keys off the counter and follow Josie out to my car. She stops at our front door. "Do I need a daylight ring?" I guess we haven't crossed any light to see. I grab her hand and walk her over to one of our windows blocked by a curtain. "I'm going to pull the curtain back. Just slowly move your hand into the light. We'll know quickly if you need a ring." I stand opposite of Josie and grab the curtain pulling it back to allow the light to filter into the room. Josie looks at me before quickly thrusting her into the light, both of us wince waiting for any pain. Nothing. "I guess you got that from me." I let go of the curtain and pull Josie to me kissing her. Josie smiles. "I'm very lucky."  
I park in the faculty lot again and grab Josie's hand to walk to the field. This time we walk past the woods line. There are more kids walking around during the day time, we don't want to risk any of them. I let go of Josie's hand and keep walking forward a couple more steps before turning around to face her. I pull one of the blood bags out of my bag and hold it up to Josie. "Okay Jo, focus on me." She nods her head giving me the go ahead. I unscrew the cap and begin to tip the bag allowing some of the blood to fall to the ground.  
The black veins begin to ripple under Josie's eyes as they turn black. Her hands are clenched tight next to her sides. She shakes her head a little bit trying to block out the scent of the blood. Josie takes a step backwards from me and lifts her hand to her face rubbing at her eyes. The brown comes back to her eyes and the black veins disappear. "Hey, there's my girl." She takes a step forward and smiles. "I did it, Hope." She gets about 3 steps away when I squeeze the bag allowing more blood to escape. Josie's face scrunches up. The black veins return but she shakes her head back and forth for a second before they fade. "Good job, Jo." I put the cap back on the bag before pulling her into my arms. "You did good." She nods her head. She is shaking a little in my arms. I know this is a lot for her to take in. Once Josie calms down a little. She takes a step back from me. "Let's go again."  
We continue doing this same activity a couple more times. Each time, it takes less and less time for her eyes to change back. "Okay, Jo, I wanna try something now." I can see in her eyes she is getting tired but she won't want to stop until she knows her limits. I pull a knife out of my back pocket and make a small cut on my hand then squeeze my hand shut. The blood begins to run down my hand. "Hope," Josie's voice is strained. She closes her eyes and take a step back from me holding up her hand. "Jo, if you rush towards me, I will blast you." I hold up my other hand ready to block her from attacking me. Josie opens her eyes and looks back towards me before rushing forward.  
I shout out a quick spell that sends Josie flying backwards. She hits the ground and slides across the dirt. I can feel where she hit the ground, my back begins to ache. Josie lets out a moan as she lifts her hand to her forehead. I look down to the cut on my hand which finally closes up before walking over to Josie. I kneel down next to her. "You okay, babe?" I place my hand on her cheek. Her eyes begin to flood with tears as she shuts them tightly. "Hope, I would have attacked you. This is terrible. What about our boys? I can't attack them. What if they scratch their knee or fall off a bike or, or," That is when it hits me. I fly backwards and hit a tree behind me. A grunt escapes my lips. "Hope!" Josie vamps over to me. "I am so sorry Hope, I don't know what just happened. Everything is just overwhelming and I can't believe I tried to attack you." Josie grits her teeth as a ring of fire erupts around us. I let out a sigh as I mumble a spell to put the fire out.  
"Josie. I need you to calm down. Your emotions are controlling your magic right now." I am still leaning against the tree trying to control my breathing as Josie sits down placing her back against me. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze tight trying to help ground her. She lets out some shaky breathes. I start to hum in her ear. We sit there until her breathing settles. "Take on the World by You Me at Six. That is what you are humming." Josie tilts her head back to look at me. "Just say the word, we'll take on the world. Just say you're hurt. Well take on the world. Nobody knows you the way that I know you. Look in my eyes I will never desert you." Josie sings along to my humming. "We're okay, Jo. We will figure this out. I can't explain why my blood affects you more than normal blood other than it being our bond. You might just be attracted to it more. That is what we can work on." She nods her head at me.  
The sun starts to go down and I realize we have been out here a very long time. "Jo, can we try one more thing?" She cocks her head to me but nods. I begin to take off my clothes and place them next to me. Josie takes the cue and steps back. She turns around for me to change. It doesn't take long for me to turn into my wolf. I step forward and nudge Josie to turn around before I take a couple steps back. I am fighting the urge to just curl up with her. My wolf isn't happy with me.  
Josie's eyes stay brown; she takes a step forward to me. Her scent is a little different now that she is a vampire but it still smells like her. She extends her hand to me. I let out a whimper as I press my head forward pushing past her hand to land on her stomach. She wraps her arms around me, a few tears run down her face. A heavy breath of air escapes her lips. "At least, I don't attack your wolf." Josie rubs behind my ears making my tail wag. I say in my head, "Want to run?" Josie lifts her head to look at me. "You're on."

Chapter Sixty Seven-  
Hope POV-  
Josie did a good job of keeping up with me last night. We ran for a while before we both were exhausted. We came back to the house and both fell asleep, but I wake up in the middle of the night like I always do. It doesn't matter how tired I am, I always wake up. Normally, I'll get up and check on the boys before returning to my bed. But tonight, I slide out of bed and grab my phone before slipping out our bedroom door.  
"Hey Caroline, I meant to call you earlier but got distracted doing blood training. How are my boys? Can you maybe come over? I want to show you something." I send the text and sit down on the couch. It is the middle of the night so I don't expect a response but my phone vibrates. "I'll be there in ten." I don't want to wake up Josie when her Mom gets here so I say the soundproofing spell as quietly as possible.  
Caroline shows up quickly. I hear her pull into the driveway. I meet her at our door. "Hey, I sound proofed the downstairs so we won't wake Josie." Caroline carefully closes the door behind her, relocking it. Caroline sits down across from me in the living room. "Tell me what happened."  
I go over the past day's events with Caroline. She drops her head looking at her hands and begins to nod her head not saying much until she starts rambling. "That doesn't make sense. It should be the other way around. But I guess it is your wolf preventing you, Josie's siphon side doesn't have any say when it comes to blood. How did she take it?" Caroline finally looks up at me. "Well, she blasted me with a field of magic then created a ring of fire around us. I got her to calm down after that. But her emotions were controlling her magic. Caroline, I don't understand how to help her. My wolf helps me control it. I just," I trail off and put my hands in my head and rock back and forth slightly.  
We both sit in silence. We have been talking for so long that the sun is starting to rise. "Can I see what you were talking about?" Caroline's voice is calm. I stand up and usher us both into the kitchen. I set up a boundary preventing Josie from entering the kitchen. I look to Caroline, "I'm going to drop the sound proof barrier. Just watch, you'll see." She nods her head acknowledging my comment. I drop the barrier.  
I grab a blood bag from the fridge and unscrew the cap. I tip the bag and squeeze some blood out. It splashes onto the counter. We both wait. The scent of blood fills our noses so we know Josie can smell it, too. I hear her heartbeat speed up signifying she is awake. Our bedroom door cracks open. "Hope, did you spill blood?" She walks down the stairs and sees the two of us standing in the kitchen.  
Her eyes are still brown. "Mom?" I look back at Caroline and grab a knife out of the drawer. I drag it across my palm, blood begins to pool and run off my hand hitting the counter. Josie steps into the living room. Her eyes turn black and the veins under her eyes ripple. "Honey, concentrate. You can control this." Caroline raises her hand to show Josie we mean no harm. Josie takes another step forward and shakes her head some before rubbing at her eyes.  
I decide to speak up. "Josie, focus on my voice." She turns to look at me and cocks her head. "I love you, Jo." She blinks and her eyes go back to brown. The veins disappear. "Hope?" Josie steps forward with tears in her eyes. She tries to walk into the kitchen and quickly hits the barrier. My hand closes up as I drop the barrier. Josie rushes into my arms and lets out a shaky breath into my neck. She whispers into my neck, "I'm so sorry." I look over and see Caroline is wiping away a tear. I know she hates seeing her little girl like this.  
I stand there holding onto Josie until she suddenly pushes me away. Her vampire teeth are out. She mumbles to herself. "What the hell?" She lifts her hand to cover her mouth. "Babe, what just happened?" There was no more blood to trigger her. "I, I don't know, I heard your heart beating then I was close enough that I heard the blood flowing through your veins then I, I focused on it," she stops as her eyes turn black again. "Josie," she blinks a couple more times and steps back further from me closer to her mom. "Mom, this doesn't make sense, what is happening?" I hate seeing Josie like this. She's scared.  
I pull my phone out of my pocket. "I'll be right back." I step out of the kitchen and walk out the front door. I sit down on the front step. I pull up Aunt Freya's contact and hit call.  
Josie POV-  
Hope leaves the kitchen and walks out the front door I can hear that she didn't go far. Mom turns to look at me and pulls me into a hug. The tears start to stream down my face again. "Mom, I am doing my best. I don't know how to control this. I've gotten so much better at controlling it with normal blood, but her blood. It's a different kind of pull. Like, like I have to have it to live." Mom grabs my hand and pulls me to the couch. I sit down next to her.  
"Sweetie, you and Hope will get through this. All she wants is the best for you. You have only been a vampire for about two days. This imprint thing is new for all of us. We weren't sure how each of these events would alter your bond. But for right now, you need to try and stay calm. Hope told me about what happened yesterday." I nod my head and close my eyes. I take a couple of deep breathes with Mom. Hope walks back through the front door after a couple of minutes. "Alright, I know what's wrong."

Chapter Sixty Eight-  
Hope POV-  
"Thank you, Aunt Freya. I'll give you a call in a couple of days. Love you." "Love you too, kiddo. Tell Josie hi from all of us." I hang up the call and stand back up. I walk through the front door and see Josie talking to Caroline. Her face is red and puffy. It breaks my heart to see her like this. "Alright, I know what's wrong." Josie and Caroline both turn to me. "Really? What is it?" Josie perks up. I sit across from them in the living room chair.  
I fold my hands in front of me trying to will myself to speak. "Hope, what is it?" I lift my head to look at her. I stretch out my hand towards Josie as she grabs it, interlocking our fingers. "We were right. It has something to do with me imprinting on you." I wait for a reaction from Josie or Caroline but both remain silent. "Essentially," I turn to look at Josie. "Your vampire side doesn't understand why you are so drawn to me. So all it wants to do it is attack me, to stop the pull, stop the emotions."  
I wait for some type of reaction but Josie just sits there staring at me. "What does this mean, Hope?" I look down to our hands. "It means," I gulp trying to gain the confidence to speak. I know she isn't going to like what I am about to say. "It means you need to turn off your humanity, like a reset button." Josie's face drops. "But, I've read stories of what vampires do when they shut off their humanity, Hope." She trails off.  
I stand up dropping Josie's hand and begin to pace a little. "This is all hypothetical though. No one has our bond, Jo. Aunt Freya found a book. A small book. That kind of explained it. And, and Keelin confirmed some of the stuff in it but," I walk over to the kitchen counter and lean forward onto it placing my head in my hands. "Hope, why didn't it happen immediately? We were fine when I first turned and when I was sleeping right next to you." I keep my back to her, thinking. My voice is barely above a whisper. "I don't know, Jo."  
Josie POV-  
Hope just told me that I have to shut off my humanity to reset my vampire side so I don't want to attack my wife. Uncle Stefan was a ripper even without his humanity turned off. He was even worse without it. I'm pretty sure Mom told me stories too of when her humanity turned off. What if I can't get my humanity back on?  
I stand up and slowly walk over to Hope. I try to focus in on the sound of fridge humming to prevent me from hearing Hope's blood. I'm locked on the sound of the fridge so I step behind Hope and lean forward wrapping my arms around her waist from behind. I rest my head forward against her. I know this is hard for me, but this is just as hard for Hope. "We'll figure this out, babe." She nods her head acknowledging me. Mom stands up. "We can do it in the wolf transition spaces at the school. No one is set to go down there for a while since the full moon isn't for another two weeks." I step back from Hope so we can both look at Mom. "Okay, I'm going to go pack a small bag." Hope leaves the room and goes upstairs.  
I drive with Mom to the school while Hope trails behind us in her car. It is a pretty silent ride until I break the silence. "Mom, can you promise me that you will help Hope as best you can? I don't know what no humanity will look like on me. She is going to try and shut down. But, if something happens, don't let her humanity shut off. If I'm not here to help her, I don't think she would ever be able to get it back." Mom pulls into the school parking lot. "I promise, honey."  
The three of us walk into the school but Mom splits from us when we get in. "I'm going to go talk to your Dad. I'll meet you down there." I nod my head. Hope takes my hand as we walk down to the basement. When we get down there, I stop at one of the empty wolf transition spaces. "Hope," she turns to look at me. "I love you, no matter what happens, okay? No matter what I may say or do." She nods her head. "I love you too, Jo." I pull her into me for a quick kiss. There is too much sadness in it though. Neither of us wants to pull away.  
"Okay, are we ready?" Mom walks into the room with Dad. Both of them look at Hope and me, sympathy in their eyes. I nod my head and step into the transition space. Dad locks the door behind me. "Alright honey, I want you to close your eyes. Imagine it like a light switch in your head. You'll know when you find it. Just turn it off." I close my eyes and concentrate trying to focus on finding this switch. All of my emotions right now, they are so overwhelming. Maybe this will be a nice break. A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek.  
Hope POV-  
Caroline, Alaric, and I are watching Josie intently waiting for her to turn off her humanity. I've never wanted to turn mine off since I turned but I have had Josie that entire time. If I had been a vampire when my parents and uncle died, that might have been a different story. I see the recognition appear in Josie's face. She truly is so beautiful. I can't believe she is my wife. Her scrunched up face drops as a smirk forms on her lips. "Hey babe, miss me?"

Chapter Sixty Nine-  
Hope POV-  
The look on Josie's face changes from sadness to nothing until she looks up at me. Our eyes lock. "Hey babe, miss me?" A smirk crosses her face. She struts over to the bars of the transition space. "Oh come on, Hope, don't act like you aren't jealous of this." I don't say anything. Both Caroline and Alaric are watching for my reaction. "You could turn it off with me. We could live the rest of our life together. You could forget all of your pain." Caroline gives me a small nod telling me to play along.  
I step forward closer to the bars as Josie reaches her hand out to me waiting for me to take it. "You know Jo, we have eternity together. All you have to do it turn your humanity back on and we will walk out of here." I graze my fingers across hers as she lets out a small laugh. "Oh come on, babe, don't be a tease." She grabs my hand pulling me closer to her, the bars still separating us.  
I take one step back making sure to keep my distance but I interlock my hand with Josie's. "All you have to do is turn it back on, Jo. You can see your boys. We can go home. They miss you. I miss you." Nothing changes in her face. It wasn't working. "Hope," I turn to see Alaric motion to me to follow him. Caroline sits down to stay with Josie.  
Alaric and I leave the room. I soundproof around us so Josie can't hear us. "We're going to get her back, Hope. It just might take a little time." I let out a shaky breath and raise my hand to my eyes turning around to look at the door to the transition spaces. I take a couple of deep breathes, trying to steady the shaking in my hands. "Alaric, what if we can't get her back?" He steps towards me pulling me into a hug. "We're going to get her back." I pull back and nod my head. "I, I am going to go for a run. Clear my head. I'll be back." I don't give Alaric a chance to speak. I step around him and vamp away.  
Caroline POV-  
Josie winces in pain. "God, she just had to run away again. She could be with me but no. She goes and wolfs out." I shake my head. I know how bad I was when I turned my humanity off. When my Mom died, I couldn't take it then I forced Stefan to turn his off too. It took him showing me an old memory of him and my Mom to bring me back. It broke me. As much as Hope won't say it, I know she feels guilty. Like if she hadn't imprinted all those years ago then none of this would have happened.  
"Hello? Mom, are you going to entertain me while I am stuck in here? Maybe give me some blood bags? Or just let me out." I shake my head no. "Sorry sweetie, until you turn your humanity back on, you're stuck in here and with no blood." She begins to pout as she sits down on the bed in the cell.  
My phone begins to ring. "Hey Lizzie, are the boys okay?" We dropped them off at Lizzie and MG's house this morning. They moved in together a couple of weeks ago. Alaric and I think they will get engaged soon. "They are good, Mom, how is Jo?" I turn to look back at Josie who can hear our entire conversation. "It would be better if I could be let out of here!" Josie yells so Lizzie can hear her through the phone. I wait for a response from Lizzie. "I don't like how she sounds. It's," she pauses. "Different." Josie looks extremely irritated. "I know, sweetie, we'll get her back. Might send Hope over later to see her boys. I'll text you." "Okay, sounds good, love you." "Love you too." I hang up the phone call and put my phone back into my pocket.  
Hope POV-  
My wolf needed out badly. I don't even make it to the woods line before I shred through my clothes and take off running. When I finish, I go to the Old Mill and grab an old hoodie and some sweatpants before walking back to the school. I only ran for about two hours. Maybe Josie will be up for flipping her switch back now.  
I walk down the stairs and open the door to see Josie sitting on the cot and Caroline sitting in a chair staring at her. "Finally, you're back. Have you reconsidered my offer?" Josie stands up from the bed and walks over towards me resting her arms above her head against the bars. I have never seen the look that she has on her face right now. The hostility in her eyes and the smirk stuck on her face is clouding her features. The person I am looking at is not my wife. I have no doubt in my mind that she would do anything to get out of this cell even use my emotions for her against me.  
I avoid eye contact and walk back and forth in front of her. "Not unless you are ready to come back to me." She drops her smirk and tries to look sad. "I'm right here, Hope. You just have to let me out." I shake my head a little. This isn't Josie. Caroline pipes in, "I'm sure the boys would love to see you, Hope. I can stay here with Josie if you want to go see them. They are with Lizzie and MG." I nod my head. I feel bad I have barely spent any time down here with Josie but I just get frustrated. I can't get through to her and more than anything it just hurts. I grab my keys from the chair and walk out.  
I slide into the front seat of my car and shut the door. I lean forward resting my forehead on the steering wheel. "Deep breathes, it's okay. We can figure this out." I mumble to myself. I sit there for a minute before texting Lizzie. "Hey, your Mom recommended I come see the boys. I'll be there in ten if that's alright with you?" I start the car and my phone vibrates. "Yep, see you soon."  
I pull into the driveway and walk up to the door. It takes me a second to knock. I don't want my boys to see that something is wrong. I knock on the door and hear some little footsteps. Lizzie unlocks the door. Both of the boys start saying my name. "Mama! Mama!" Each one of them grabs onto a leg. I look up to see Lizzie watching me. "Hey Lizzie," I lean forward and give her a hug. "Hey Hope, how are you doing?" We really have bonded more and more in the past couple of years. I nod my head. "Could be better." Lizzie picks up Elijah off the floor and I pick up Nicolas. We sit down in the living room.  
I sit Nicolas on my lap so he can face me but he quickly leans forward so he can wrap his arms around my neck. His hand grabs ahold of my collar. This has always been his way of calming down. Lizzie hands me Elijah so I can hold both of them. He leans into my other shoulder. It doesn't take long for both boys to fall asleep. I have always had this affect on them. Lizzie waits until they are asleep. "So tell me what's going on."  
I tell Lizzie everything that has happened. When I finish, we both just sit there. The boys' heartbeats are calming, relaxing. They make me feel better. "So, let me get this straight. She needed to turn her humanity off to reset the bond. If she didn't, she would continue wanting to kill you to stop the intense emotions caused by the bond that her vampire side can't decipher?" Both of us are whispering trying not to wake Elijah or Nicolas. "Yep, you got it right."  
MG walks through the front door. "Hey Liz, I'm home." She jumps up from her chair. "Shh, boys are sleeping. Hope is here." MG walks into the room and sits down next to Lizzie across from me. "Lizzie told me about everything going on, I'm so sorry, Hope." I let out a shaky breath and focus on the twins breathing to calm me. "Thank you, MG. Hopefully, this will be the last issue we encounter with this bond." He nods his head. I speak up again. "Well I better get back to Josie. Where would you like the boys?" They both stand up and walk over to me each taking one of them from my arms. "Thank you for taking care of them. I owe you both." Lizzie shakes her head no but MG answers. "No, you don't, Hope. We are happy to do it. Any time you need us, we are here." MG looks down at Elijah who is in his arms. "Plus we love having them around." I place my hand on the door knob. "Thank you, both of you. I will give you a call later, Lizzie, with an update." She nods her head as I walk out to my car.

Chapter Seventy-  
Hope POV-  
I get back to the school right as the sun is setting. I stop for a minute and just watch taking a couple of deep breathes. In order for me to help Josie, I need to stay calm. I walk through the front doors and head downstairs to the basement.  
When I get down there, Caroline is gone. "Where did your Mom go, Jo?" She rolls her eyes at me. "Said something about being hungry. I don't know and don't care." She lays back down on the cot and stares at the ceiling. I sit down in a chair against the wall and pull out my phone to send a text to Caroline. "Are you getting food?" My phone buzzes back after a minute. "Yes, want some?" Right on cue, my stomach begins to growl. I haven't eaten all day. "Please, thanks." I'm not quite sure what to try with Josie anymore. I hear Caroline coming so I open the door for her. "Here, Hope" she hands me a tray then turns to Josie. "Got your favorites, sweetie." She slides the tray of food under the bars. "Sorry, not hungry." Josie doesn't move.  
Caroline and I eat our food in silence. I turn to look at her after we finish, "Can't we just compel her to turn it back on?" She shakes her head no. "She's part vampire now and humanity is different. It's something the individual has to want." I fiddle with my wedding ring sliding it on and off my finger. I run my hands over the inside. "I'm Yours, You're Mine."  
Josie hasn't said anything yet. "Should I call Penelope? Maybe she has some idea of something to do? I think she's in town." Caroline nods her head. "Worth a shot." I pick up my phone and leave the room before dialing the number. "Hey P, it's Hope. We've got a little problem."  
Penelope POV-  
"You made her do what?" I know she can hear the anger in my voice raising. "Just come down here and try to help me please?" I have never heard Hope's voice so desperate, and I know she wouldn't be calling me if it wasn't an emergency. "Okay, I'll be there soon." I grab my car keys off the counter and walk out of my hotel room to get in my car.  
It always feels weird coming back here. Walking the school hallways. I follow the familiar path down the stairs and into the basement. Hope is sitting down in a chair across from Josie who is in one of the transition cells. "Hey Jojo," I step through the doorway. Hope looks exhausted. She has dark bags under her eyes and a slight shake to her hands. I know she mentioned Caroline was here earlier but she must have gone upstairs to help Alaric with something.  
"Hey Pen, come to break me out of here?" Josie stands up and walks over to the bars of the cell. The smirk that crosses her face is weird. It's not Josie. "You know I wish I could but Hope said you can't leave till you flip that humanity switch back on." Josie throws her hands up into the air. "What is it with you people? Hope this and Hope that. Let me make my own decisions." I can see what Hope was talking about. This is just odd to witness. I know this isn't the real Josie, this is no humanity Josie.  
I look down next to me to see Hope with her head in her hands. I lean in to talk to her but I know Josie can hear me. "When did she flip it?" Hope doesn't even lift her head to respond. "This morning. But it feels like it's been longer than that." I look down to my watch. It's already 10 pm. "Have you run?" I know that's how she used to cope with everything. I doubt she stopped. "Yeah, after it flipped then I went to see my boys and now I'm here again." I nod my head.  
I grab my phone and pull it out to text Hope so Josie can't hear me. "Have you done scare tactics?" She lifts her head to look at me confused after reading the text. She texts back. "No, what do you suggest?" I quickly text back. "Us fighting. You, getting injured. It might shock her into feeling again. Plus she can feel your pain. As much as you won't like it, it might work. Might trigger some flashbacks to the Peryton attack." Hope lets out a sigh. "Are you going to tell me what you two are texting about?" Josie bangs her hand on the bars trying to get our attention. Hope texts me back. "This is going to hurt."  
Hope POV-  
Penelope leaves to go back to her hotel and get changed. She has a work thing tomorrow morning then she said she'd come back for our fight. I just need to tell Caroline and Alaric the plan. I know they aren't going to like it. After Penelope leaves, Josie lays back down on the cot. I hear her breathing settle after a little while but I can't sleep. I should probably go run again but I don't want to leave her alone and Alaric and Caroline probably already left. Screw it. I double check that the cell door is secure then leave to go run.

Chapter Seventy One-  
Hope POV-  
I managed to control myself long enough to take off my clothes so I at least didn't shred through a second set of clothes in one day. I didn't even realize I had run all night until the sun began to rise. I return back to my clothes and change.  
Josie is sitting against the wall on the floor of the cell when I walk in. "Did you run all night?" Her voice sounds almost sincere. I respond "Yeah" with little emotion before laying down on the floor. I place my hands over my eyes enjoying the coolness of the concrete. I pull my phone out of my pocket and hit shuffle on Josie's and my playlist, She's Mine. The songs echo along the walls of the cells as I increase the volume to max. I couldn't stop thinking while I was running that one of these songs might be able to trigger something.  
Both of us stay silent just listening to the music. "Can't you turn that down? It is so loud." Josie places both of her hands against her ears. I turn to look at her. "If you turn on your humanity, I will turn it down." I don't want her to be able to block out the music like I taught her. I want her to hear every word. Every beat. But that isn't the only reason. It drowns my thoughts out at this volume.  
My phone buzzes with a text. "Hey, I'm leaving work now. I'll be there in an hour. Have you talked to Caroline and Alaric?" I lift my phone above my head to read it. "No. If they come down while we fight, we might want their reactions. Plus, they might try to stop us." The music is still blasting out of my phone. "Okay, see you soon."  
Josie cocks her head at me. "Who are you texting?" I drop my arms allowing my phone to rest on my chest as I crank down the volume to hear Josie. "Your Mom." A smile forms on my lips at my joke. "Ha, ha, no really, who?" I don't even think she realizes that she is messing with her wedding ring and band. I decide to give a little background to make our fight seem more legitimate. "Penelope. She's mad that I made you flip your humanity off. She always said if I hurt you, that she wouldn't let me live it down." Josie nods her head. "She's always been protective." I scoff at her comment. "Do you even remember when you were pregnant? My wolf eyes flashed almost every single day because someone would get too close to you." Josie lets out a small laugh. "I didn't say you weren't protective." I missed her laugh so much. Her normal laugh. We don't say much more, so I turn the music back up to max volume. I send one last text to Penelope. "I give you permission. Go all in. Make it realistic."  
Josie POV-  
Hope turns off the music and sits up. I can hear footsteps approaching when Penelope barges through the door. "I always knew you would hurt her. You didn't even tell me the whole truth yesterday! I had to find out from Lizzie who just happened to mention it when she texted me this morning. What the hell were you thinking?" Penelope raises her hand to Hope and sends her flying backwards. She skids across the floor, a moan escaping her lips. My back begins to ache from Hope's fall.  
Hope pushes herself up with one arm. "I did my best, P. You know that." Hope closes her eyes and looks to the ceiling letting out a gasp of air. "You efforts weren't good enough, Mikaelson. You were never good for Josie! All you ever did was hurt her. She should have ended up with me!" Penelope steps closer to Hope before lifting her off the ground and throwing her against the cell bars with a flick of her wrist. Strips of pain shoot across my back aligned with where Hope hit the bars. "Pen, what are you talking about?" Neither one of them even acknowledges that I spoke. I thought they had sorted this out years ago. Now, they are fighting over me?  
Hope crumbles to the ground after hitting the bars. Penelope closes the distance before grabbing Hope's head with one hand. "It's pathetic, really. You're not even able to bring back your wife after she turned off her humanity for you. You never deserved her!" Penelope brings down her fist hard against Hope's face. My nose erupts in pain. "Pen, stop, Pen please." Hope is on all fours spitting out blood. Penelope takes another step forward kicking Hope in the stomach which sends her toppling over to land on her back. "Penelope, stop! Hope, why aren't you fighting back?"  
Penelope glances back at me before returning her gaze to Hope. She is breathing hard. Probably broke a rib or two hitting the bars. The throbbing in my nose is giving me a pulsating headache. Hope closes her eyes waiting for the next blow, but Penelope doesn't move. "Just kill me, P. You know you want to. End my life. Without Josie, my life isn't worth living anymore." She tilts her head to the side coughing out more blood. My voice is breaking. "Pen, don't do it, please stop." Something is flicking in my head. No no, I don't want the switch to flip.  
Penelope pulls a knife out of her pocket and kneels down next to Hope placing it against her neck. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you stay dead. My coven granted me this knife. It is the only knife in the world capable of killing the one and only Hope Mikaelson. Any last words?" Hope turns her head enough to see me. She coughs a couple of times trying to get it out. "I love you, Jo." Penelope's face lights up with rage as she violently slices the knife across Hope's throat. A scream erupts from my lips as I crumble to the ground.

Chapter Seventy Two-  
Penelope POV-  
I drag the knife across Hope's throat to finish our fight. I turn to look at Josie who crumbles to the ground, a scream echoing through out the cells. Tears are streaming down her face. "Pen, let me out, let me see Hope, let me out!" She grabs onto the bars and screams Hope's name. Her voice is breaking. She lays down on the ground and grabs her knees pulling them to her. "She's not dead, she can't really be dead, she's not dead." She's mumbling with her eyes shut tight. I pull out my phone. "Yeah, Caroline, can you come check? I think we made it work." Not three seconds later Caroline vamps through the door.  
Josie can't stifle her crying any more. It comes out hard. The sound of her heart breaking fills the room. Hope is still laying on the floor all bloody, motionless. "What the hell, Penelope?" Caroline's eyes scan the room taking in this scene. I grab her arm, pleading with her. "How do we know if the switch flipped back on? I didn't want to let her out until we were sure." Caroline walks over to stand in front of Josie who is still curled up on the floor of the cell. "Hey sweetie," Josie doesn't move. Her body doesn't know how to process this. Caroline looks back to me, "She needs to see Hope. I think it's flipped. We don't want her to turn it back off." I grab the key and hand it to Caroline. I move to stand in front of the door just in case.  
Caroline unlocks the door but Josie stays where she is, rocking back and forth. "Josie, come see Hope." Caroline helps to lift her off the ground and walks her over to Hope. Josie's sobs fill the room as she pulls Hope's body into her lap. She wraps both arms around her body tight and buries her head in to her shoulder, not caring about the blood. Josie is too preoccupied to see that Hope's chest is moving up and down, she's breathing. Caroline steps back next to me to watch. "Hope, you can stop acting dead." My voice can barely be heard over Josie's whimpers. Hope flutters her eyes open at my comment and lifts her hand to touch Josie's head.  
Hope POV-  
Penelope tells me I can stop acting dead now. I heard the whole situation but I couldn't see Josie for myself. Plus, everything kind of hurts so it is easier to just not move. I open my eyes and reach my hand up to place it against the side of Josie's head. She pulls back slightly unsure of who just touched her. "Hey, Jo, my girl is back, huh?" Josie lifts her head completely to take in my face before she pulls me to her even tighter. She is hysterically crying now. "I, I thought you were dead," her words come out between ragged breathes. "I told you, you are stuck with me. I'm not going anywhere." She just sits there clutching my body. I wave my hand at Caroline and Penelope to give us some space.  
Josie mumbles into my neck after she calms her breathing a little, "You scared me, Hope." She lifts her head so she can look at me. Her face was blotchy all over. "I had to get you back, Jo. I told Pen to make it look as realistic as possible." My broken ribs make every breath hurt but it was all worth it to get Josie back. "Don't do that again," she hits my shoulder lightly. I manage to push a laugh out of my lips but end up groaning immediately after. We sit there in silence for a while longer. "Can you move, Hope? We should get you cleaned up." I nod my head as Josie helps lift me to my feet. We walk up the stairs and head to the infirmary to get me all cleaned up.  
Josie POV-  
I help Hope sit down on the side of one of the infirmary beds and make sure she is steady before leaving to get supplies. I grab tons of gauze and hydrogen peroxide to clean the blood off Hope's skin. The wound looked like it had closed so now, her bones will just need to heal. I walk back into the room to see Hope clutching her side.  
I drop all of the supplies next to her on the bed. "Do you have more clothes at the Old Mill?" She nods her head. "I'll text Pen to have her go grab them." I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Penelope. I spray some hydrogen peroxide on some gauze and begin to clean blood off Hope's face and neck. Her shirt is completely covered in blood. When I finish, Penelope walks in with Hope's clothes. "Here you go," she drops the folded clothes next to Hope. I look between the two of them. "Okay, you both are here now. So tell me, was that a legitimate fight topic or were you faking everything?" Hope turns to look at Penelope. "It was all fake, Jojo, you and Hope have always been meant to be. You have my support 100%." I step forward and give her a hug, wrapping my arms around her neck. "Thank you for helping us, Pen." When we let go, she heads for the door. "My flight leaves in a couple of hours so I need to get going. Keep me updated okay?" She turns to look at both of us. I nod my head. "I will." A smile crosses her face. "Heal up, Hope, thanks for letting me beat the crap out of you. It was fun." With that, she walks out of the room. A smirk crosses Hope's face. "She had too much fun with it, I think." I giggle at her comment. I help Hope change out of her clothes and put on the clean ones. When we are done, I throw away all of the gauze and help Hope off the bed. She stops me for a second. "You didn't seem affected by my blood earlier." Hope grabs my hand and squeezes it. I nod my head yes. "We are never doing that again though." I lean forward and kiss her. I missed this so much.  
We walk out of the infirmary and head towards Dad's office. "Do you want to get the boys today or tomorrow, Jo?" Hope turns to look at me. "Today, I've missed them so much. If that is alright with you." She pulls me to her and leans her back against the wall. "I'm ready for our family to be back together and the boys kept asking where you were yesterday." I pull out my phone to text Lizzie, Hope's arms are still wrapped around my waist keeping me pressed against her. "Going to pick the boys up today. Be there in an hour. See you soon, Liz." Hope and I push off the wall and walk the rest of the way to Dad's office.  
Hope POV-  
Josie and I go to see Alaric and Caroline in his office before leaving to pick up our boys. We promise we will call them later then we leave. When we get to Lizzie and MG's apartment, Josie jumps out of the car and sprints to the front door. I follow behind her moving a little slower. Lizzie opens the door as Josie kneels down taking each of the boys in her arms. "Momma!" Josie's eyes tear up a little. We thank Lizzie and take the boys home.  
The four of us eat dinner, burgers and milkshakes, then crawl into our king size bed to watch a movie. Both boys are curled up between Josie and me, Elijah is holding onto Josie and Nicolas is holding onto me his hand gripping my collar. I lean down and kiss the top of his head then reach over to rub Elijah's back. I look over at Josie who is beginning to fall asleep. She reaches her hand over, extending it towards me. We interlock our fingers. Finally, my family is back together.

Epilogue-  
Hope POV-  
Josie graduated with her bachelors in teaching four years ago. Elijah and Nicolas are now seven and getting ready to start at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. Josie and I had the boys tested and they both have the werewolf gene and vampire blood in their systems. Two more tribrid siphoners. Alaric kept his promise and offered Josie a job working with the teenage witches and to help Emma out with the young kids. I have continued to assist Alaric with monster hunting, recruiting, and self defense.  
"Hope, can I talk to you for a second?" Alaric grabs me on my way to teach one of my self defense classes. We only have a couple more weeks until summer break. "Yeah, of course." I step into his office. He sits down at his desk across from me. "So, I think my time as the headmaster is coming to an end." I nod my head unsure of where he is going to take this conversation. "You have been shadowing me here for the past couple of years and I feel you would be perfect to take over the position. You represent all three of our major branches of supernaturals here at the school and the students love you. I would be honored to stay here and teach a history class and maybe help Dorian out with research but I am tired of being in charge. Josie already works here and I know the boys will he starting here this coming year so all of your family is already here. What do you think?" I used to always joke about this with Josie that I would take her Dad's job as headmaster one day. Josie every time would end the conversation telling me to take it if he offers. I nod my head. "Yes, I accept." He stands up and extends his hand for me to shake. "Effective the coming school year, congrats Hope." I shake his hand before leaving to teach my class.  
"Wait, he offered you the job, today?" Josie is in the kitchen cooking dinner for us. "Yep, called me into his office and offered it right there effective this next school year. But he said he would like to stick around to teach history and help Dorian. So he won't be gone for good he said he is just tired of being in charge." I grabs plates and silverware to set the dinner table. "That is amazing, Hope, we always knew this would happen." I hum in response. "Eli and Nico! Go wash your hands for dinner!" I yell up the stairs before turning back to Josie. She finishes setting all of the plates on the table before glancing over at me. "So, what am I supposed to call you? Headmaster Saltzman-Mikaelson?" Both of us laugh as I pull her in for a hug. "You are the only one still allowed to call me whatever you want, Jo."  
We both turn to watch the stairs as Elijah and Nicolas come sprinting down them, apparently racing. Nicolas extends his hand towards Elijah and begins to siphon. "Nicolas Kol. No siphoning your brother." They both rush to sit down at the table. "I win!" Elijah throws his hand up in victory. He definitely has more of the Saltzman physical characteristics while Nicolas takes after the Mikaelson genes especially with his red hair. Josie shoots each of them a look telling them to calm down. I try to hide the smirk on my face but not before Josie shoots me the same look the boys just received. Elijah and Nicolas both have not triggered their curses or killed someone so at the moment they are just siphoner witches. Josie and I have decided to wait to explain the extent of their supernatural powers until they are a little older.  
The boys are talking about random games they play when Josie asks me in my head. "Lizzie asked if we could watch their daughter this weekend? She and MG have to go deal with some Gemini Coven business." I nod my head at Josie but answer in my head. "Lily is welcome to spend the weekend with us. When does she start at the school again?" Josie scrunches her face to think. "She is three years younger than the boys so in three years I would assume. Pretty sure she showed signs for being a witch."  
Nicolas grabs ahold of my hand that is resting on the table and locks eyes with me as Elijah keeps talking about everything under the sun. "You and Momma are having another silent talk." I give his hand a quick squeeze. "I'm sorry, Nico. I was just asking her a quick question." He nods his head before continuing his conversation with Elijah. I look back at Josie. "Smart kid. He's figured out our tells." She looks over at Nicolas and smiles. He has always been the more sensitive one of the two boys, more reserved, while Elijah makes friends with everyone he meets or tries to anyway.  
"Okay boys, time for bed." Josie and I follow them up the stairs and into their room. We converted the nursery into the perfect room for them. We put in two twin beds, and I painted a picture of a wolf on the wall as requested by Elijah. It was only recently that we told them about my ability to become a wolf but they have been obsessed with wolves their entire lives. Eventually, we can always convert the guest room to be another bedroom if they get tired of each other's company but as of right now, they are attached at the hip similar to how Lizzie and Josie were.  
We tuck them into their beds and say good night to each of them. "Goodnight Mama," Elijah leans forward wrapping his arms around my neck before laying back down. I give him a quick kiss on his forehead before switching with Josie to say goodnight to Nicolas. "Goodnight Nico, sleep well." I sit down on the side of his bed and lightly rub my hand up and down his stomach. "Mama, what if I can't sleep again?" He has been having more and more trouble staying asleep. He already has his wolf stuffed animal laying next to him. I lean down so Elijah can't hear me. "You always have your drawing pad to distract you otherwise I will check on you later to make sure you are okay." He nods his little head at me. "Goodnight." I kiss his forehead before walking out of the room with Josie.  
We crack the boys' door and head down the stairs turning on the tv. I rest my back on the couch arm rest while Josie sits between my legs. We haven't broken tradition. We still make time to talk about our days every night we both are home. I occasionally go on work trips with Alaric. "I hope they always stay this cute." Josie closes her eyes and leans into me as I wrap my arms around her. "Me too, they both still tell us stuff." We both chuckle. Josie lets out a blissful sigh. "I love our life." She turns her head to look at me. "We did it, babe. We got our eternity." A smile flashes across my face at her comment. "I love you, Jo." I lean forward and kiss her. "I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments with your thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and comments below with your thoughts.


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